Objective: To know the perception of health professionals and their families about fake news related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Descriptive-exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Twenty-eight individuals participated, including seven physicians, seven nurses, and 14 family members. Data collection took place between August and October 2020, with audio-recorded interviews. After transcription, the content was analyzed using Content Analysis, thematic modality. Results: Three categories were identified: “Context of the occurrence and dissemination of fake news in times of pandemic”; “Consequences of fake news on the experience of the pandemic”; and “Coping strategies to contain/combat fake news”. Conclusion: Sociocultural, political, educational, and technological aspects influence the occurrence and dissemination of fake news, which have consequences such as: misinformation, self-medication, worsening in the professional-patient relationship, increased need for additional research, and fear in the population. To face the current situation, greater control by the State is required, with investigation and punishment of people who disseminate fake news, as well as greater awareness among the population on the subject.

This theoretical paper proposes a new perspective to understand the moral distress of nurses more fully, using virtue ethics. Moral distress is a widely studied subject, especially with respect to the determination of its causes and manifestations. Increasing the theoretical depth of previous work using ethical theory, however, can create new possibilities for moral distress to be explored and analyzed. Drawing on more recent work in this field, we explicate the conceptual framework of the process of moral distress in nurses, proposed by Ramos et al., using MacIntyrean virtue ethics. Our analysis considers the experience of moral distress in the context of a practice, enabling the adaptation of this framework using virtue ethics. The adoption of virtue ethics as an ethical perspective broadens the understanding of the complexity of nurses’ experiences of moral distress, since it is impossible to create a ready model that can cover all possibilities. Specifically, we describe how identity, social context, beliefs, and tradition shape moral discomfort, uncertainty, and sensitivity and how virtues inform moral judgments. Individuals, such as nurses, who are involved in a practice have a narrative history and a purpose (telos) that guide them in every step of the process, especially in moral judgment. It is worth emphasizing that the process described is supported by the formation of moral competence that, if blocked, can lead to moral distress and deprofessionalization. It is expected that nurses seek to achieve the internal good of their practice, which legitimizes their professional practice and supports them in moral decision-making, preventing moral distress.

Objective: To analyze potential triggers of moral suffering experiences of health professionals, reported in the media, during the COVID-19 pandemic and to propose a theoretical construct of analysis. Methods: Study with qualitative approach whose data source were 50 reports published online, collected passively and actively, submitted to Content Analysis with the help of ATLAS.ti software. Results: The potential moral problems that trigger moral suffering are related to the threat to moral integrity, infrastructure/logistics and teamwork problems, and emotional aspects, revealing their articulation with damage to the foundations of a healthy work environment, which generated the proposal of a construct. Final considerations: The articulation between the experiences of moral suffering and the commitment of the fundamentals of a healthy work environment has brought important contributions to the adoption of strategies to protect and stimulate moral deliberation by professionals in favor of practice and society.

Objectives: to understand Family Health Strategy nurses’ practices in the context of quilombola communities with an interface for cultural and political competences. Methods: a single integrated, qualitative case study carried out on seven Family Health Strategies located in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais. Seven nurses and 59 quilombolas participated. Data were collected through individual interviews with nurses, collective interviews with quilombolas and observation. For analysis, the thematic content analysis was adopted. Results: the results revealed structural and territorial problems, which are configured as barriers for professional-user encounter as well as for professional practice performance. Final Considerations: it is necessary that Family Health Strategy nurses, based on political and cultural competences, create strategies that minimize the difficulties found in the implementation of health actions directed to quilombolas. Such strategies anchored in inclusive public policies.