Work process and psychic suffering of primary care physicians in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The organization and the work process are privileged spaces to recognize the forces that lead to psychic suffering. This article aims to analyze the perceptions of physicians of primary health care, who work in the More Doctors Program, on the relationship between psychic suffering and work process, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. This research was carried out with a case study, using methods and qualitative techniques for the collection, description, and analysis of the data. An intentional sample was selected in accordance with the theoretical saturation technique. The collection of information was carried out semi-structured interviews, following a script built to meet the objectives of this research. The analysis of the interviewee’s discourse articulated categories of analysis drawn from five thematic axes that have points of articulation between them, with consensus and contradictions that give meaning to the visions and positions of the actors in the field of health. The results evidenced the pandemic as a health and traumatic catastrophe, resizing the work process and contributing to overload, conflicts, fear, feeling of helplessness, and psychic suffering. Numerous shortcomings, infrastructure problems, bureaucracy, political interference, mismatch between training and practice also contributed to this suffering.