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Mary is a critical care nurse. She volunteered to work two shifts at the CHSLD Vigi Mont-Royal this month. Long-term care facilities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 virus and are struggling to get the help they need.

Mary wanted to help. This is her story.

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Mary (not her real name) had been warned in advance to bring her own personal protective equipment. PPE at the facility were in short supply. So she arrived with extra face shields, gloves and masks and looked for a place to suit up, but there was no dedicated, disinfected change area, so she and a colleague disinfected at a cafeteria table, stood on it, dumped their street clothes into a garbage bag and pulled on scrubs.

“It’s a good thing I’m not overly modest,” Mary said.

Their names weren’t on the replacement list, but they were assigned a unit on the spot. With zero orientation.

“Critical-care nursing and working in a long-term care facility are two entirely different worlds,” Mary said. “We were thinking we would be working as orderlies.”