VivaLasViejas ASN, RN

LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych

Once a nurse, always a nurse!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide

All Content by VivaLasViejas

  1. VivaLasViejas

    I Hate Being Bipolar. It's AWESOME!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I can imagine. Now I've got a question. Does anyone know why severe stress tends to cause hypo/manic episodes? Before I was diagnosed, I'd have thought it would send one into a tailspin of depression...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Feeling like a job hopper!

    VivaLasViejas replied to Eleven011's topic in General Nursing

    I'm glad to hear that, now that I'm back in the job market myself at age 54. I really thought that last one was my 'forever' job---I didn't even have an escape plan for if it ever got to be...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    I Hate Being Bipolar. It's AWESOME!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I find it very interesting that when mood disorders run in families, a lot of the time the siblings tend to have different ones. My sister and I laugh when we talk about being "polar opposites", but...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    good days and bad days

    VivaLasViejas replied to nursenurse321's topic in Health, Stress Management

    Welcome to the wide, wild world of nursing! Not that you haven't already gotten your feet wet, but the novelty has certainly worn off and you are now dealing with the down-and-dirty realities of this...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Physical for new job

    VivaLasViejas replied to Julius Seizure's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    Yes, they usually ask for a list of medications, and if you take anything that may show up on a UDS, you'll want to bring your prescription bottle with you to the testing site. That said, you do not...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    To The Beginning

    VivaLasViejas replied to SoldierNurse22's topic in General Nursing

    As........you.......wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!
  7. VivaLasViejas

    I Hate Being Bipolar. It's AWESOME!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    And what is this 'moderation' you speak
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Freelance writing

    VivaLasViejas replied to pinkiepieRN's topic in Nursing Career

    Getting started here was a good move. Save all of your articles on a removable drive and print out hard copies, too. A portfolio is a handy thing to have if you ever have the occasion to show a...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Still Very Anxious Working as a Nurse After Three Years

    VivaLasViejas replied to makeadifrence's topic in Nursing Career

    (((((makeadifrence))))) Your pain is palpable, and you have my deepest sympathies. I've been through something like this very recently, only it didn't end well for me (I was fired Thursday when I...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    What nurses don't hear often enough

    VivaLasViejas replied to Wheels28's topic in Nurses Rock

    DITTO!
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Freelance writing

    VivaLasViejas replied to pinkiepieRN's topic in Nursing Career

    It's been a long time, but I used to write articles/commentaries on topical themes for newspapers. I've been published in the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, as well as the Portland...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Mental Health Awareness Month

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    (((((Chixie))))) Of course you're still you. I'm still the same person I was before my diagnosis, too. But I know what it feels like to be thrown out like yesterday's newspaper, and you have my...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    A Work In Progress: The Road to Recovery

    VivaLasViejas replied to wish_me_luck's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    Therapy + medications = a much better outcome for many. It's too bad that most psychiatrists no longer have time to do therapy---it's usually a 15-minute med check three or four times per year, then...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    To The Beginning

    VivaLasViejas replied to SoldierNurse22's topic in General Nursing

    What can I say.....you are a magnificent soldier, nurse, and human being. Thank you for telling us your
  15. VivaLasViejas

    A Work In Progress: The Road to Recovery

    VivaLasViejas replied to wish_me_luck's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I just learned something I didn't know before---how 'borderline' came to be called that. I think if more people knew this, the diagnosis wouldn't sound so awful and the stigma perhaps not as bad. The...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    I ignored my instincts...

    VivaLasViejas replied to NurseOnAMotorcycle's topic in General Nursing

    What a coop-full of chickens. I'd have told them where to go and how to entertain themselves whilst
  17. VivaLasViejas

    How to answer the question 'have you ever suffered from a mental illnes' in interview

    VivaLasViejas replied to Dunnec34's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    That is a question an employer has no business asking in an interview. It's discriminatory and therefore illegal. I would run far, far away from a business that would ask you that.......heaven only...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Mental Health Awareness Month

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I saw today that actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (the gorgeous woman in my avatar) is back in a mental health facility, this time on a 30-day treatment program for her bipolar II. She is a brave...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Just thinking about this.....

    VivaLasViejas replied to Callahan, RN's topic in Nurses Recovery

    Thank you for your honesty, and don't worry, I'm not here to judge you. FWIW, those monitoring programs are often the same ones that nurses with mental illness are forced to participate in, so I can...
  20. VivaLasViejas

    Death Is A Journey

    VivaLasViejas replied to jadelpn's topic in Spirituality, Religion

    This is a hauntingly beautiful, expressive essay on one of the most sensitive topics we deal with as nurses. Well
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Just thinking about this.....

    VivaLasViejas replied to Callahan, RN's topic in Nurses Recovery

    Pardon me, but I think I'm missing something here. Did you have a valid Rx for the
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Epic (Nursing) FAILS!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nursing Humor

    BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Reminds me of the time I forgot what I was doing for a minute and made a patient laugh as I was giving her a bolus feeding through her G-tube. Ever see a whale spout water through...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    "I'm an addict...not psychotic." Aren't they both mental health issues?

    VivaLasViejas replied to NurseSheGirl's topic in Addictions

    Being both bipolar AND a recovering alcoholic, I'd have to say that dual diagnosis stinks no matter how you slice
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Mental Health Awareness Month

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I very much appreciate the comments this piece has received thus far. But I didn't write it for myself; I wrote it for those who can't speak out or advocate for themselves, and of course to raise...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Nursing: Art vs Science

    VivaLasViejas replied to jadelpn's topic in General Nursing

    I understand the science, but my favorite aspect is the art and that's what I do best.