“NASCI PARA CUIDAR DO OUTRO”: O TRABALHO REPRODUTIVO E A SAÚDE MENTAL DE TRABALHADORAS DA ENFERMAGEM DO MUNICÍPIO DE JOÃO PESSOA-PB

Abstract

The objective of this study was to understand the relationships between mental health and the double working day - productive and reproductive - experienced by women who work in the area ofNursing (nurses, nursing technicians and assistants). This professional category is fundamental to sustaining health work, especially in the Unified Health System, while, contradictorily, they are undervalued and little recognized workers. The study design was data collection, with a quantitative approach, with the application of 66 questionnaires and scales focused on productive, reproductive work and mental health. The application was hybrid, with online and in-person responses, in the participants' work contexts. The results were analyzed with descriptive statistics and offer evidence of the relationship between work (productive and reproductive) and the mental health of nursing workers. The extensive workload of productive and reproductive work, with more than 50 hours/week, carried out by 6 female nurses appears as a possible factor that makes them more vulnerable to psychological illness. Social markers such as gender and race shape power relations, sometimes characterized by moral harassment at work. In the mental health survey, 46 participants (69.6%) presented results that indicated Common Mental Disorder, with just over 10% suspecting suicidal ideation. In addition to the quantitative data, the open questions in the questionnaire indicated a meaning of work based on the idea of care, an aspect that may be crossed by ideological issues that support the Sexual Division of Labor. We conclude that it is urgent to understand and intervene in work contexts (productive and reproductive) in order to produce means of promoting mental health and preventing illnesses for nursing workers.