Objective:

To know the health problems that affect nursing professionals in the emergency unit of a public hospital and the related factors.

Method:

Cross-sectional study with 86 nursing professionals from a hospital emergency unit in the countryside of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Data collected through questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results:

61.2% of the professionals reported at least one injury or illness with a medical diagnosis, and 59.6% of the professionals had two or more health problems, with a mean number of injuries or illnesses of 2.8 (CI95% 2.1-3.5). The groups ‘injury by accident’ and ‘musculoskeletal diseases’ were predominant, however, injuries in the back, gastritis or duodenal irritation and hypertension were the illnesses with the highest number of reports. Nursing assistants or technicians presented, on average, more injuries or illnesses than nurses, as well as professionals with more than one employment those who felt tired and/or discouraged after work and who had suffered occupational violence. Statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with or without injury or illness in relation to medians of current age (p=0.0075) and age at the start of labor activity (p=0.0188) of workers. There was a statistically significant relationship between presenting an injury or illness and use of medication (p=0.0304).

Conclusion:

It is important that the institutions provide working and organizational conditions for workers, in order to enable them to maintain their health, potential and skills for as long as possible.

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