Pandemic at the hospital: Booklet for coping with stress

Healthcare workers have been under intense stress in the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic when they faced situations that threatened or challenged their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and they may present mental health problems. Seeking to help these professionals in the hospital context, this article presents the theoretical bases and procedures for the development of a psychoeducational booklet for coping with stress. An integrative literature review and an online survey with 141 healthcare workers from hospitals in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina were carried out to identify the main stressors and coping strategies. This material was organized according to the motivational theory of coping into charts with recommendations on what to do and avoid and boards for alternative communication. The booklet was evaluated by 17 expert health judges, obtaining good correlation coefficients for relevance content (.98) and for clarity of language (.92). With a Spanish version, its application possibilities are expanded.