[Reporter] When Canada's first COVID patient arrived at Toronto's Sunnybrook hospital in January
we knew so little and feared so much.
It was Clarisse Shen who cared for that man.
He'd end up in the intensive care unit and she would follow taking on 12-hour shifts
when more nurses were needed for the coming surge.
We knew that he was a suspected COVID patient.
At the time we didn't even have a name for the virus really we were just calling it N-2019.
[Reporter] It's been a steep learning curve for a young professional
who just graduated from nursing school.
They get sick really, really fast.
They can present to the hospital with very mild symptoms
and they can progress very, very quickly
to the point where they need to go on a ventilator.
[Reporter] When they're that vulnerable the results can be almost unbelievable.
I was taking care of this patient on a ventilator
and he has this thing where his body automatically does a little twitching motion
where his teeth bite down on a ventilator and his teeth were actually coming out.
like he had bitten off a part of his tongue and his teeth were coming out.
[Reporter] One of the particular tortures of COVID is that particularly in those early days
those who died did so without family around them.
There have been instances where I've had to fill that role for patients
and even though I try my best and it's very sad
these are people who have lived very full vibrant lives.
[Reporter] There is one patient in particular who Clarice remembers.
I'm trying to comfort this woman in her last moments
but all i can really tell her is that I love the colour of her nails and that her hair is beautiful
and that her daughters love her so I eventually just told her over and over again
that her daughters love her.
They wish that they could be here.
I just told her that over and over again until she passed.
[Reporter] Clarice has seen a lot of death this year and is taking a toll on her and her colleagues.
It's causing us some burnout for everybody
because there are so many patients that are coming in with these advanced needs.
Last week you had two COVID patients in the hospital
and this week you have like 15 and you have six waiting in the E.R.
and you have no beds in your ICU and then you're trying to get people out of the ICU
who would benefit potentially from a few more days of staying there.
[Reporter] Sometimes the caregivers become the infected.
It happened on the job to Shaye Fleming.
A cardiac nurse at Calgary's foothills hospital.
I was one of the first people to test positive.
Coming from my workplace you know head cold, some shortness of breath, cough, runny nose.
Lost my sense of taste and smell.
For the most part I couldn't get out of bed.
[Reporter] She's turning to yoga to centre her after a two-month fight with lingering symptoms.
So significant she's been unable to work for two months.
[Shaye]That shortness of breath and that chest tightness and heaviness
has still been one of the most frustrating parts for sure.
[Reporter] Not just frustrating, Shea also feels shame.
However misplaced, guilt that while sick she hasn't been able to help her colleagues.
You know as a 29-year-old having shortness of breath
and not being able to walk a kilometew down the pathway
you know makes makes you feel pretty shameful as well.
[Reporter] Fleming's return to work coincided with a major jump in cases in Alberta
adding to the stress.
Our ultimate goal is to care for people
and I think right now that's really difficult for us because we're trying so hard
to care for these patients and do what we have always wanted to do as a nurse
but it's just there seems to be no end in sight at this moment.
[Reporter] There is always more from Meaghan Thumath.
She's worked abroad this year for the World Health Organization
and is also a street nurse to Vancouver's homeless population
loading supplies for the downtown east side.
Struggling with multiple challenges at once.
So the sort of twinning of the overdose crisis as well as COVID-19
and then on top of that people are still struggling with HIV and Hepatitis C and other infections.
[Reporter] Challenges her patients face are also starkly different than those in hospital.
Making sure if someone's homeless and we ask them to self-isolate.
We have to give them the tools to do that safely and so a big part of our early work
in the first wave and now the second is finding safe places for people to self-isolate.
Thumath also trains shelter workers and community agencies.
We offer suggestions for improving infection prevention and control in those settings.
[Reporter] And she helped repatriate Canadians from Wuhan, China last year.
In so doing, so too became infected.
A physical toll and a mental one too
for a nurse who's called upon to work around the world.
The thing I worry about most is the impact on my family.
We have two kids and I'm grateful to my husband to be supportive.
Like I have a drawer full of letters to them just in case I don't come back.
I hope that they can understand that I felt called to respond
but that
that I hope they stay safe.
[Reporter] A heavy burden with added discouragement
when for all she's seen experienced herself there are still those who deny COVID's dangers.
I think it's really combating the myths and rumours
and investing enough in
good democratic institutions and communication
and really making sure the public understands their role in this.
[Reporter] Even in those moments of let down there are far more gratifying ones she says.
It's pretty rewarding to be able to offer them a safe place to be
or to just be part of a team that is treating people with respect.
[Reporter] One in a remarkable group of frontline workers.
David Common, CBC News, Toronto.