Análise dos sintomas depressivos entre enfermeiros de uma unidade hospitalar pública no município de Campos dos Goytacazes/RJ

The professional reality of nurses includes complex assignments and responsibilities for their team and patients, who must be healthy to promote health and thus perform their duties with excellence. Frequent exposure to stressors compromises your health, which can result in mental illnesses such as depression, interferes with productivity levels, and can compromise patient safety. This study aimed to identify depressive symptoms among nurses in a public hospital. This is a descriptive, exploratory study with a quantitative approach. It was carried out in a public reference hospital in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, located in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The sample was selected for convenience, including nurses who have worked for at least one year in the unit where the study was conducted. Those who were on vacation, sick leave, or maternity leave at the time of data collection were excluded. The data collection instrument consisted of a questionnaire of sociodemographic and occupational characterization of the subjects, followed by the Beck Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using the SPSS software, version 20.0. The sample consisted of 21 nurses, the majority of whom were female (85.7%), with an average age of 44.4 years (SD = 8.9 years), married / in a stable relationship (61.9%), with an average length of experience in nursing of 19.1 years (SD = 6.8 years), working on 24-hour weekly shifts (90%) and working in critical areas (65%). At the end of this study, the presence of protective and risk factors for depression was evidenced. Although the majority do not have depression or present minimal depression, the symptoms of mild and moderate depression were identified in a considerable percentage of the sample, showing that the impacts of conditions on the work environment are present among these professionals.