NURSING: IMPACT OF WORK ON MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how the work process influences nurses’ mental health, considering the challenges, impacts, and strategies in the process of promoting well-being for the profession. Nursing faces issues that include exhausting shifts, emotional overload, and insufficient resources, factors that contribute to the emergence of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. The research, conducted through an integrative literature review, was based on titles from the Scielo, BVS, and PubMed databases, respecting the time frame between 2020 and 2025, with publications in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Chinese that addressed the central question of the study. The results indicate that favorable work environments, institutional support, fair remuneration, and mental health promotion policies help prevent burnout and improve service delivery to staff. However, work overload and lack of institutional support negatively impact performance and patient safety. It is concluded that valuing nurses and investing in adequate working conditions are essential to strengthen psychological health, directly reflecting on the care provided to users and on the implementation of a sustainable health system.