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

    State license (Oregon)

    VivaLasViejas replied to Jay2daq's topic in Oregon Nursing

    Hi, I'm the moderator for the Oregon Nurses forum along with this one, and I was going to move this thread to that forum; but I think I'll leave it here for now as there have been some good responses...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    You know, it's not really the pharmacists themselves who are the problem, more often it's the techs, and the BILLING PEOPLE (grrrrrrrr), and the various assorted and sundry characters who work in...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Really, how can you remember?

    VivaLasViejas replied to sunnycalifRN's topic in General Nursing

    I have this problem all the time. People will walk up to me in the store or in town and say, "Hi, Marla, it's good to see you again!" and I have no idea whatsoever where I've met them or how they know...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Never were truer words ever spoken! I get this one a lot: "Would you come down here and fix the cable in my mom's room? We can't get 'Oprah' on." Now, I'm standing there in scrubs with a stethoscope...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Pain management nurse in LTC- an unreasonable goal?

    VivaLasViejas replied to misstoast's topic in Pain Management

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you'd have a better chance of jumping over the moon than of creating a new position in LTC these days. There simply isn't the funding for new programs, let...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Oh, this reminds me of another dumb-pharmacy call I got in the middle of a shift a couple of weeks ago. They had a question about a medication, then actually asked me to look up a doctor's number in...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    What I Know About: The PITA Patient

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Sometimes, we don't
  8. VivaLasViejas

    What I Know About: The PITA Patient

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in General Nursing

    I prefer to call them "high-maintenance" patients, actually. But whether you've been a nurse for thirty years or thirty minutes, you probably use the more familiar PITA designation......and you dread...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Unbelievable

    VivaLasViejas replied to CapeCodMermaid's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    Oh, sister, do I know what you're saying........that was the reason I left my last DNS job, only it was the marketing director who had the final say on all admissions! That's like putting the fox in...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    BWAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Wow---that dude is even more warped than I am!! Love
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    You know what's funny? I recounted this tale for the day-shift nurse the next afternoon as we were finishing report, and she told me that what the SHE does is ask each XYZ caller for her/his name (and...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    3rd Quarter Article Contest Results

    VivaLasViejas replied to Brian's topic in News, Announcements

    CONGRATULATIONS
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    I feel YOUR pain too! I worked acute care on and off till five years ago, and the admissions I disliked the most (other than patients in the raging DTs) were the LOLs with a dx of "weakness". Talk...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Smart Nurse vs. Dumb Pharmacy, Round One. DING! | Life of a Nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Thankfully, I do have a med aide on the LTC unit because there are so many residents. On the SNF side, I AM the med aide.....as well as the treatment nurse, the secretary, the third CNA, the resource...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    Do you think we are over regulated?

    VivaLasViejas replied to StNeotser's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    Which is why LTC nurses are losing their jobs, and the ones who are left are caring for more and more residents with fewer staff and
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Which Nursing Jobs are the Least Stressful?

    VivaLasViejas replied to LeLeeFNP's topic in Nursing Career

    In better times, nurses DID have the freedom to move around and try different specialties. That was how I've been able to do all sorts of different things---ICU, postpartum, assisted living,...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    we cannot have acrylic fingernails

    VivaLasViejas replied to jh56031's topic in General Students

    I love long nails and glittery polish too, but neither is appropriate at the bedside for the reasons mentioned above. Years ago when I became a DON in an assisted-living facility, I made a rule that...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Using Smart Phones on Your Unit

    VivaLasViejas replied to Penguin67's topic in General Nursing

    That's the same way my facility does it........no carrying cell phones while working, but they more or less look the other way because almost everyone does. My take on it is "Hey, I'm not leaving a...
  20. VivaLasViejas

    The NOC shift doesn't wake up ANYONE in the morning...is this normal?

    VivaLasViejas replied to emily_ganshert's topic in Medical Assistant, CNA/MA

    I've been around long enough to remember the old days, when noc-shifters were expected to have at least a quarter of the residents up, bathed, and dressed by 0600. Thankfully, through culture change,...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    How to refer to self when writing a nursing note

    VivaLasViejas replied to lashuna1028's topic in General Nursing

    I think the third-person narrative sounds stilted and I try to avoid referring to myself at all in my nurses' notes. However, there are times when I'll intervene in a crisis situation and I will...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    So much negativity towards Associate Degree Nurses

    VivaLasViejas replied to LPN_2005/RN_10's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    Hi~ I moved your thread to this forum because it's the right place for just this type of discussion. :) Like you, I started out as a CNA (although I didn't have the option of becoming an LPN) and...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Todays Most annoying pt award goes to....

    VivaLasViejas replied to Pepper The Cat's topic in General Nursing

    Sounds like the daughter of the patient I just transferred to another SNF...... One time when I was still working at the hospital, I had a patient just like the one described in the OP. On top of the...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Your Favorite Job?

    VivaLasViejas replied to ChristineN's topic in General Nursing

    My favorite job was Director of Nursing Services in a 42-unit assisted living facility. The building was homelike and welcoming---you just got a good feeling when you walked in the front door. I...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    I never want to hear those words from you again

    VivaLasViejas replied to SuesquatchRN's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I would LOVE to have the time to assist my CNAs, and in my last job I did help them as often as I was able. But now, I'm not only the charge nurse but the secretary/med aide/treatment...