Experiences and challenges faced by nursing professionals in care for patients with COVID-19.

Objectives: Understand the perception during the care work of nursing professionals who work in inpatient units in the care of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and describe the experience and challenges of their work in this area of work.

Method: Exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study. The interviews were individual, carried out in person. Socio demographic data were previously collected through a self-applied questionnaire.

Results: The sample consisted of 25nursing professionals, 84% nurses and16% nursing technicians. From the analysis of the content of the participants' speeches, six thematic categories were constructed:Uncertainty and fear of anything new and of the unknown; Personal and social challenges working with COVID-19; The relevance of human and material resources, linked to permanent in-service education for coping; Ambiguity of feelings of the participants in the face of expressions of support or prejudice on the part of the community; Reactions of health professionals to non-compliance with the recommendation of social distancing by the population; Insufficient professional training to face the pandemic.

Conclusion: The experiences and challenges that emerged in this research unfold in different ways, such as fear of the unknown, social and personal challenges to be overcome, as well as the impact of social behavior on the lives of nursing professionals and even the issue of training and professional preparation to face the pandemic.