Analysis of nursing work seen from the experiences of frontline nurses against Covid-19: on the path of precarization

The experience of working in the confrontation of Covid-19, amid tension, contradictions and impacts in the workers’ health constitutes the context of this research, with the objective of understanding the nursing work in the experience of frontline nurses against Covid-19, in Alagoas, Brazil. This is a qualitative research, using content analysis of the thematic oral histories of 6 nurses, who worked on the frontline in the cities of Arapiraca and Maceió, state of Alagoas, Brazil. The thematic categories emerging from the analysis were: devaluation; lack of physical structure and resources for work; precarious work bond; and the relationship between overload, illness, and wear and tear. It was found that these categories are encompassed by the term work precarization, previously established, but amplified in the pandemic, following the experience of nursing workers.