Hi, TVO. My name is Amie Archibald-Varley.
I'm a nurse and I'm an essential worker.
♪
So, some of the work that I do is really behind the scenes.
So, making sure that we keep our patients and families safe,
making sure that-- you know,
let's say there was an incident that happened
in the emergency department,
my role is to kind of understand how that occurred.
All right, so today is actually the official last day of school.
My kids, all three of them, were in online school
pretty much for the entire school year.
Hi!
Very, very challenging as I have twin boys and a daughter.
And yeah, it was a hot mess, if you want me to be honest.
Also, my son has autism,
this lovely gentleman sitting right here,
who will probably yell at me when we have to do some videos.
Are we going to take some pictures today?
Yeah.
AMIE: All right, so let's take some pictures.
What grade have you graduated from?
Tristan and Logan first.
Grade 3 and my sister is graduated...
in junior kindergarten.
No! Big one!
AMIE: She did kindergarten, going into grade 1,
so, I have grade 4 starting and a grade 1.
And yeah, we'll see how--
the hopes is all three go back to school.
So, I have to say, you know,
this guy right here...
is instrumental to my life.
He's my cousin.
I am.
The one and only Matt.
That's me.
And we are both nurses.
Mmm-hmm.
And I am so glad that, you know, we're both double-vaxxed. So...
Please get your vaccination.
Yes, so--
Stop listening to that mumbo jumbo, and conspiracy theories.
I'm an operating room nurse,
so I've been redeployed here and there and everywhere.
The ICU was one of them, and that was terrifying.
Yeah.
It was actually a terrifying experience,
just to see all the death, to see all the sick people.
Oh my goodness, I have the house all to myself.
I should-- I should do this all the time.
Anyways, so today I'm doing a live event
with
talking about women in Covid, talking about, you know,
some of the struggles and challenges that we faced
during the pandemic as women, and as women in healthcare.
I also just got another email from U of T,
the faculty seeing if I-- myself and Sara
want to do speaking opportunities, of course we do.
(Door closing, kids chattering)
Mommy, look what we got!
Hi, guys!
Is-- The cupcakes ready?
The cupcakes aren't ready, but I'll make them very soon.
No!
Look. Look what I got!
♪
I think I do all these things kind of
with one real goal in mind,
and that's really to make sure that, you know,
our kids will have, or be afforded different experiences
than even myself and Jordan, and um...
Like, I think there's-- you know when we talk about privilege,
I think some people don't really truly understand,
and at least with myself and my husband,
we have children with special needs.
And knowing that there's going to be a different pathway
for them, and if there's something that I can do
to help support them in that pathway to make it easier
or to make it more equitable
that I'm going to strive for that.
I'm making my father-in-law a Covid cake. So, um...
This is the start.
I got my green frosting-- icing, butter cream icing,
and I'm gonna finish up this cake.
To know that I have someone in my family
who feels so strongly that these things aren't true
or they aren't real, just really hits a nerve with me.
And it's more than frustrating.
I will continue to advocate for getting the vaccine,
because I believe it is the right thing to do.
We have to follow the evidence. We have to follow the science.
And I remember feeling at the very beginning of the pandemic
very guilty that, you know, I couldn't be in the ICU
with my colleagues,
or I couldn't be, you know, on the front lines,
and I actually had applied to work in vaccine clinics.
I applied to be redeployed and I wasn't.
So... but I felt that, you know, if I can't contribute
in the way of working in the ICU I can contribute by
continuing my role as a quality patient safety specialist,
and also by continuing to lift others' voices
and to use my own voice and my own platform.
I told you it is my father-in-law's birthday,
and I was going to make him a Covid cake.
So the finishing touches are done,
I gotta just stick it into the fridge
and here's what it looks like.
(Laughing) Oh my goodness.
So, I got my microphone.
Sara's remote, and as you can see she is in her closet.
This is where the magic happens when we record our podcast.
Hi, everyone. This is Amie and I in our element.
We're recording...
♪
We do have the platform.
And I said, you know what?
Even though I can't-- I can't do that point of care,
I'm going to talk about Bill 124.
I'm going to talk about, you know, some of the challenges
that nurses are seeing in the profession currently.
I'm going to talk about, you know,
issues related to sick leave,
related to mental health and pay inequity.
So, all you need is a podcaster.
AMIE: Absolutely.
You need your microphone and your wit.
(Chuckling)
Anyways, we're going to get recording.
♪