REPERCUSSIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF NURSING PROFESSIONALS: EVIDENCE FROM AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, significant impacts on the mental health of nursing professionals were observed, especially among those who worked on the frontline of care. This scenario was marked by a high workload, constant risk of contamination, professional insecurity, and intense emotional suffering, factors that contributed to the increase of psychological disorders in this category. This study aims to analyze scientific evidence on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of nursing professionals. It is an integrative literature review, with a qualitative approach and descriptive nature, carried out from May 2025 to May 2026. Searches were conducted in the SciELO, LILACS, and BDENF databases, including articles published between 2019 and 2025, in Portuguese and English. The results show an increase in anxiety, stress, depression, and burnout syndrome among the nursing professionals, mainly associated with work overload, exposure to the virus, scarcity of resources, and fragility of institutional support. It is concluded that the pandemic significantly worsened the mental health of these workers, reinforcing the need for psychological care strategies and improvement of working conditions.