ABSTRACT
Objectives:
to understand nurses’ experiences of moral distress related to work overload during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.
Methods:
qualitative research, whose data collection occurred through individual interviews with 19 nurses who worked on the front line of COVID-19 in health services in southeastern Brazil. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results:
work overload proved to be a powerful source of experiences of moral distress due to excessive working hours during vaccination, double working hours, a troubled relationship due to pressure from managers and the population and physical and mental exhaustion, which prevented nurses from act according to their judgment.
Final Considerations:
nurses’ work overload reflects on quality patient care and prevents nurses from acting in accordance with their moral principles, generating moral distress in nurses.
Descriptors:
Nurse; Ethics; Stress Disorders; Work; COVID-19.