Objective: To analyze the experiences that generate pleasure and suffering in the work of nurses in an oncopediatric inpatient unit.
Methods: Qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study. Data collection took place from March to May 2018, through interviews with eight nurses in an oncopediatric inpatient unit.
Results: The verbalized experiences of pleasure were the work developed with children, participation in the treatment and cure of patients and the recognition of family members in relation to the work performed. The suffering experiences were palliative care and death of patients, performing invasive procedures and organizing work.
Final considerations: It was possible to analyze the experiences of pleasure and suffering of nurses in an oncopediatric unit through the psychodynamics of work, allowing to reinvent prevention and intervention measures by managers in health/mental illness processes at work.