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

    Colonoscopy: A patients perspective...

    Denying this patient's experience does not make the trauma any less real. Pain is what the patient SAYS it is.......this one just happens to say it in an amusing fashion. Frankly, I wish more...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Patient modesty concerns pertaining to surgery

    I thought this was it.... Seriously---let's please stay on topic here, folks. This isn't the place for discussions about changes in surgical teams or speculation about what else goes on during...
  3. You sound like a very wise and compassionate caregiver. Your current and future patients are, and will be, fortunate indeed to have you as their advocate. Good
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Ever Killed Someone?

    I think you articulated it just fine, NurseCard. Most of us have had the experience of giving "the last dose of morphine" or assisting with that final turn. I'd even venture to say that most of us...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    11 Things Your Nurse Thinks (But Will Never Tell You)

    We had a patient some years back, who came into the ER with a screwdriver inserted into his rectum. Can anyone say OUCH? I mean, it was all. the. way. up. there. I saw the X-rays to prove it. What got...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    two people for hoyer lift-why?

    It's for both staff and resident safety. Generally, if you're using a Hoyer it's because the patient/resident is very weak and immobile, and many are obese as well. How are you going to prevent injury...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Why is everything the day shifts responsibility?

    I've worked every shift there is, and I have really learned to hate intershift rivalry. It's completely unproductive and does nothing to foster cooperation and continuity of care. The truth, in short,...
  8. I can't add much to what's already been said, only to tell you that folks like you are some of my very favorite patients!! Hang in there, and know that no nurse worth her/his license is going to...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Throw it on the floor?!

    FWIW, I'm a charge nurse and I don't have a problem with aides throwing dirty linens on the floor. I even do it myself. Where the heck ELSE is it supposed to go in an occupied three-bed room??...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Q's for Linfield Nursing Graduates

    Thread moved to Oregon Nursing Programs Discussion
  11. VivaLasViejas

    The retro nurse's outfit has returned

    Yes, I agree they all look great. But I'm sorry, I'm not giving up my soft, cool, comfortable scrub shirts and dark colored pants for ANYTHING. I look like the Pillsbury Doughboy in whites, and I...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    No Bowel Movement in Three Weeks

    Have you listened to his bowel tones and palpated his abdomen? If he's obstructed, his abdomen is probably big and firm, and bowel tones would naturally be altered. Is he nauseated? Vomiting? Any...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Daytonite has passed away...

    Joyce was what I'd call a 'nurse's nurse'. She was kind and compassionate, but also had a tough streak that wouldn't allow anyone---whether student OR experienced nurse---to get away with saying "I...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    How often do CNAs call out sick?

    I think every workplace has its share of staffers who call in with the 'bottle flu' on weekends, and/or are overtaken by a sudden acute illness that happens to coincide with the first nice days in the...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Ever puked on the job?

    Ohhhhh, yes.......My son is a CNA and a good one, but he still retches at times when confronted with especially odoriferous emanations. I keep reminding him that this is nothing compared with what...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    slow code?

    Welcome to my world. I just sent a 95-year-old gentleman out to the hospital for the fifth time this year. He has severe dementia, a mouthful of rotting teeth, an amputated right forefoot, chronic...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Dirty little secrets to managing LTC

    Me too, but maybe that's because we have such great ones where I work. They know their stuff, ask appropriate questions, and stay within their scope of practice. I have pretty much the same set-up as...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Resident in a vegetative state

    You also may not wish to 'assume' the facility is doing a perfect job of keeping your uncle's mouth clean and fresh. I work in one of my state's very best nursing homes, and I'm sorry to say that oral...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Who does this stuff? Really, you can't make it up!

    I certainly hope everyone---INCLUDING the DON and supervisory staff---is documenting the h-e-double-hockeysticks out of all this. Families like the one you've described always seem to be the quickest...
  20. VivaLasViejas

    New Toning Shoes

    I've never worn anything better for floor work! I just bought a pair of the Skechers Shape-Ups, and they are WONDERFUL. They make me feel 15 years younger and 100 lbs. lighter, which is no small...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Best Shoes for Nursing

    I've fallen in love with Skecher's Shape-Ups!! Never have I worn anything more springy or comfortable.........I'd been planning to sink about 110 bucks into a pair of Nike Shox at Foot Locker, but...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Scabbies

    I've cared for people with AIDS, C.diff., MRSA, VRE, and an alphabet soup full of other highly dangerous and communicable diseases. It's part of the job, and it's part of the risk you take when you...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Should nurses with long hair be required to wear it up?

    I like to wear my hair down now that it's grown out again, but at work, it goes up and stays there. I'm not a fan of having some confused, combative patient grab onto it and give me whiplash, nor do I...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Nclex results on hold due to speeding ticket..LONG!

    I don't understand what the big deal is. Traffic tickets are infractions---they aren't considered part of a criminal record. If I were you, I'd talk to both the court of record and someone at the...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Prescription fish oil? You have got to be kidding me!

    Oh, yes they are. In fact, before I found the enteric-coated (and more expensive) capsules at Costco, I'd stopped taking fish oil because the burps were so gnarly........and my cats couldn't resist...