<p>This article considers stress in healthcare workers (HCW) in Sergipe, Brazil, during COVID-19 pandemic in hospitals and emergency care units in the public health system. This is a cross-sectional study, HCW completed a questionnaire about sociodemographic issues, job stress and specific questions about COVID-19. Using the demand-control-support model, the work performed was classified as passive, active, low strain and high strain, according work's demand and the range of decision-making freedom. Estimated correlations between each questionnaire were performed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Most of the participants were shown to be under high psychological demand (93.10%) and feel high control (89.66%). Some factors affected the HCW’s perception of social support in the workplace, these were their team’s knowledge about COVID-19, the availability of personal protective equipment, and their physical comfort while using it, with scores of r = 0.426; p = 0.001; r = 0.414; p = 0.001; and r = 0.434; p = 0.001, respectively. HCW are involved in active work; although they are not in the worst scenario in relation to psychological stress, they are still under great psychological strain, which reinforces the need to adopt effective measures to reduce it.</p>