Care for hospitalized children undergoing institutionalization: distress and defensive strategies of nurses

to identify and analyze the factors that generate distress among nurses and the defensive strategies used by them when caring for hospitalized children undergoing institutionalization in a pediatric unit.

a qualitative study conducted in a general hospital in southern Brazil with the participation of 11 nurses. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis from the perspective of Christophe Dejours' Psychodynamics of Work theoretical framework.

in the first category, social vulnerability, hospitalized children without a companion, and the impact of work settings on personal life were understood by workers as factors of distress. In the second category, the defensive strategies used were conversation groups, patient shift changes, psychotherapy, integrative and complementary therapies, and physical activity.

this study can help managers promote strategies in the workplace, reducing the psychological burden arising from work and giving new meaning to distress.