Current research is focused on the working reality of nursing technicians of an oncology ward of a hospital in Vitória-ES, Brazil. A hypothesis was foregrounded in which a type of multiple demands scenario, or rather, professionals experiencing constant expectations of emergency situations, concentration of seriously ill patients prone to become interned for too long a period, isolation, sudden oscillations in their general conditions, would likely contribute towards the establishment of a working environment that generates psychological suffering on the part of the health professionals. Data collecting techniques consisted of participants’ observations and semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed according to qualitative methodology. Results indicated that the combination of these factors produced a working environment characterized as stressful and prone to cause a biased emotional atmosphere. Consequently, the need for establishing spaces where one might talk on the most varied feelings caused by working routines and producing psychological suffering was enhanced.
Psychological stress; mental health; workers’ health