SAÚDE MENTAL DA EQUIPE DE ENFERMAGEM EM UMA UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA: FATORES OCUPACIONAIS E ESTRATÉGIAS DE ENFRENTAMENTO

Abstract

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) exposes the nursing team to stressors that favor mental illness. For this purpose, this integrative literature review analyzed articles published between 2016 and 2026 in the LILACS, MEDLINE/PubMed, BDENF and CUMED databases to understand the main occupational factors that affect the health of those professionals, identify coping strategies and discuss implications for health practice and management. The results showed a high prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression and Burnout, associated with overwork, shortage of human resources, inadequate environment conditions, lack of professional recognition and continuous exposure to death and suffering. Individual strategies, such as emotional distancing and resilience, showed limited and momentary effectiveness, while collective and institutional ones proved to be more effective in reducing psychic suffering. It concludes that the mental illness of these professionals is directly related to the organizational and psychosocial conditions of work, which reinforces the need for institutional actions that promote mental health and ensure quality and safety in care.