Resumo Unidades de terapia intensiva pediátricas são unidades hospitalares complexas, constituindo cenário laboral potencialmente gerador de sofrimento moral ao trabalhador. Esta pesquisa analisou o sofrimento moral a que estão expostos profissionais de saúde que atuam em unidade de terapia intensiva pediátrica de hospital conveniado do Sistema Único de Saúde de um município do Sul do Brasil. Trata-se de estudo qualitativo em que se elegeu a hermenêutica-dialética como método e matriz epistêmica. Os dados apontaram percepções de sofrimento moral oriundo de carência infraestrutural e de fronteiras da humanização. A partir da categoria “sofrimento moral: da carência de recursos aos limites da humanização”, a análise revelou forte associação entre sofrimento moral e conflitos éticos. Como propostas de enfrentamento, sugere-se a luta por políticas públicas eticamente comprometidas, reconhecimento da dimensão ética como ferramenta para processo de trabalho humanizado e aplicação dessa dimensão em rede de saúde segundo Mario Rovere.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has been managed in Brazil, especially at the Federal Administrative level, with the focus being on the implications for human rights and public health in the country. Design/methodology/approach The research is built on a qualitative design made up of a case-study and review of the literature and is based on inductive reasoning. Findings Main conclusions were that: by not making sufficient efforts to safeguard the lives of Brazilians or to strengthen public health institutions amid the pandemic, Bolsonaro’s Administration may be violating the rights to life and health, among others, by omission; it was demonstrated that the President has worked unceasingly to bulldoze anti-COVID-19 efforts, which can be better explained through the concepts of necropolitics and neoliberal authoritarianism. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations to this research is that this paper was not able to discuss more thoroughly which other human rights norms and principles (apart from the right to health, life and the duty to protect vulnerable populations) have possibly been violated amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Overall, this research can help expand the literature on human rights in health management during and after emergency times. Originality/value This paper focuses on recent events and on urgent matters that need to be addressed immediately in Brazil. This study provides an innovative health policy/human rights analysis to build an academic account of the ongoing pandemic in the largest country in South America.