VivaLasViejas ASN, RN

LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych

Once a nurse, always a nurse!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide

About VivaLasViejas

VivaLasViejas has 27 years experience as a ASN, RN and specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.


I'm a retired RN and blogger who lives with a good friend and an adorable little dog.I have over 25 years total experience in health care and have done a little bit of everything. I especially enjoyed mother/baby care and assisted living. I retired early due to health reasons but kept my license active for several years beyond that. I love God, my family, my friends, NFL football, and good food enjoyed with good people!


Do, or do not. There is no try.--Yoda, Jedi Master

Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage, and calms His child.

Latest Activity

  1. VivaLasViejas

    What job can I do with cognitive decline?

    I hear you! I was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in February 2021. By that time I'd been "retired" for health reasons for over six years! The trouble with my STM loss and word-finding ability was it started around the time I was dx'd with b...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    nursing student with midfoot oa

    Hi there. I worked with arthritis throughout my 20-year nursing career, but I was older to start with (38) and I didn't plan well. I worked in LTC and in a hospital, plus I did management in between them when I was in too much pain to run the floors ...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    License reinstatement - worth it?

    Oh, geez. I wish I had some wise words to give you, but I don't so please forgive me for sticking my nose in when I can't help you. I just wanted you to know that when I saw your post I felt the need to reach out and give you a big hug. You have my s...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Has anyone ever been asked to lead activities at work?

    😳 Well, shucks, I'm blushing even as I'm reading your message . Thank you SO much for your kind words, they mean the world to me. I haven't been here as much in the past year or so because I've been so busy dealing with one ailment/injury or another ...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Has anyone ever been asked to lead activities at work?

    Hi Silver Bells, I did indeed work in Assisted Living for about 6 years back in the early 2000s up to 2013. I was the only licensed nurse for three facilities. I did the delegations, made the schedules, served as a staff development coordinator, over...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Sunday April 30th 2023

    HAHAHAHA!
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Game of Groans

    If we've evolved from apes, why do we still have them? Why do we park in a driveway, and drive on a parkway? If the plural of 'mouse' is 'mice' and the plural of 'louse' is 'lice', why isn't the plural of 'house', 'hice'? Or 'blouse', ' bli...
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Retirement and License Question

    I don't know if the process is different in your state, but where I live we can choose to put our license in either Inactive or Retired status when it's time to renew. I preferred to put mine in Retired status because a) I am indeed retired—I'm never...
  9. I'm guilty of putting off health matters myself. Last year I fell and limped around on a fractured ankle for over a week before I gave in and went to the doctor, then followed it up with severe shortness of breath and wheezing which turned out to be...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Student RN Scrubs

    In the way-back days when I was in nursing school, we had to wear all-white uniforms, shoes and socks. After we graduated, we had a party at one student’s house and literally burned our whites, that’s how odious they were. In those times health care ...
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Improving Your End-of-Life Literacy

    Yes, I felt it was an honor to be there when a patient breathed their last. It was usually a quiet, peaceful passage, but there was the occasional person who fought death to the bitter end for fear of what might be in store for them in the next world...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Improving Your End-of-Life Literacy

    I like the term “transitioning” to describe the final journey into death. Especially for those who believe in an afterlife, it can be very comforting to hear that their loved one is soon to transition to a higher plane where they will be reunited wit...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    My Job Hopping & Bipolar Disorder

    How did that go?
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Thanksgiving is time for football!!

    BIG pro football fan here. I have a favorite team in each conference (AFC—Los Angeles Chargers, and NFC—Seattle Seahawks) but I’ll watch other games throughout the week too. That way I can root for other teams to knock off the ones I don’t like…I won...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Does being addressed as "Nurse" annoy anyone?

    I was honored to be called “Nurse”. I had worked long and hard to earn that title and it didn’t bother me at all when patients/families/doctors couldn’t remember my name. (Well, it did bug me a little when the hospitalists with whom I worked forgot t...