RN Mark Gravoso (right) and RNAO President NP Lhamo Dolkar (centre) visited CBC Radio’s Fresh Air to mark five years since COVID-19 arrived in Ontario. Gravoso, an internationally educated nurse (IEN), said the pandemic allowed him to enter the workforce quickly. “It opened the door…We (IENs) are thankful and grateful that we were given the chance... to get our license and alleviate the shortages and health-care crisis.”

When the first case was confirmed in Ontario on Jan. 25, 2020, Dolkar was working in acute care. She described it as a tumultuous time: “The conditions, like infection protocols, were changing. It was a lot of stress.” The pandemic highlighted a staffing shortage that existed well before 2020, she pointed out. The shortage “…is a chronic problem. It’s always been there. I think the…pandemic just highlighted the system gaps that we always had and just never addressed.” (CBC Radio, Feb. 9)