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

    Worried about telling people I'm in recovery

    VivaLasViejas replied to lovelynurse123's topic in Nurses Recovery

    CONGRATULATIONS to you on your 3 years in recovery!! That is a great accomplishment, and you deserve to feel good about yourself. However, self-disclosure is NOT always necessary to continue on the...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Always yellowey orangey stools?? Would REALLY love some advice

    VivaLasViejas replied to Dytsran's topic in General Nursing

    What phriedom said. I'm sorry, but it is beyond the scope of our practice as nurses to offer any sort of medical advice. The person best qualified to assess your problem is a physician or nurse...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    I need help...holes in MAR

    VivaLasViejas replied to jeanne1657's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    The policy at my ALF is "pour-sign-pass": you prepare the meds and sign the MAR, then do your med pass. Since I instituted this practice a year ago, we've had very few gaps in the MARs/TARs, and I can...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    wounds! my headache!

    VivaLasViejas replied to lorenwithano's topic in General Nursing

    In addition to protein and multivitamin supplementation, I also like to use Vitamin C and 220-mg elemental zinc supplements for a limited time---I've been able to get some wounds resolved that were...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Weighed for Job?

    VivaLasViejas replied to TangoLima's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Uh........you can refuse to be weighed at the doctor's office too, even though he or she certainly has more of a right to know this information than an employer! It is NONE of an employer's business...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Deposition and what do I expect?

    VivaLasViejas replied to nursalicious's topic in General Nursing

    This is excellent advice, and indeed, caliotter is correct in that we cannot assist with legal questions of any kind. Competent legal advice from a qualified attorney is what you need, and well worth...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    when do you stop bringing work home?

    VivaLasViejas replied to ava'smomRN's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Wait a minute.........you're supposed to stop bringing work
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Nurses Day

    VivaLasViejas replied to RN4life74's topic in Psychiatric

    *snort* That was what they used to do at the hospital where I worked. They'd post banners filled with photos of all of us and our names, ranks, and number of years' experience, then they'd host a...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Period for 5 weeks..Non Stop

    VivaLasViejas replied to featherzwolfcloud's topic in General Nursing

    What Jolie said. Please see a physician TODAY......this is not normal for any woman. Good luck to
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Strange things found on (or in) a pt.

    VivaLasViejas replied to squeakykitty's topic in Emergency

    EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW........how do you top THAT??!! And I thought finding a set of bottom dentures embedded in my 400-pound patient's buttcheek was
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Miranda, that means the world to me.:heartbeat:bowingpur As always, you've managed to articulate exactly what I needed at this moment in time. Thank you ever so much!! Also, I appreciate the thoughts...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Ugh---I have to fire an employee tomorrow.

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    Without a doubt, the single most unpleasant aspect of my job as a DON in assisted living is employee discipline. I HATE having to 'punish' people for being human and doing stupid things at work, even...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Poll: Hand Washing

    VivaLasViejas replied to pat8585's topic in General Nursing

    Before and after.........every time! Sometimes it's just using the alcohol gel I carry with me everywhere, but I wash more frequently with soap and water than the gel. (Could be why I'm almost never...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    And you sound like my kind of
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Patient as Customer model of healthcare

    VivaLasViejas replied to GardenDove's topic in General Nursing

    I have one word for the "patient as customer" model:
  16. VivaLasViejas

    What should I review before going back to Med/Surg as an inactive nurse with out.....

    VivaLasViejas replied to RN28MD's topic in Medical-Surgical

    A word of advice for anyone considering a return to M/S nursing after several years' hiatus without taking a refresher course: DON'T. Not only will you get run over out there, so many things change...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    When will they change the name???

    VivaLasViejas replied to hand2cut's topic in Men in Nursing

    Well said,
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Update: I did get SOME good news today. One girl, who put in her two weeks' notice the same day my assistant walked off the job, called me at home this afternoon to ask what she thought was a weird...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    That's just the trouble..........I AM thinking about my/my family's needs etc. It shouldn't surprise anyone that for most of my life, I was an old-school activist---pick a worthy cause, and I'd fight...
  20. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Thank you for YOUR perspective. You sound exactly like my sister, who said the same thing last night......she thinks I should stay and fight it out, but she wants me to tell the residents that I could...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Believe me, if I've absorbed any wisdom from fifteen years in health care, it's how to cover my own assets. :uhoh21: I learned long ago that nobody will look out for me but ME. I appreciate your...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Thank you for this post.:heartbeat I know I've never been good at being a "sheeple"---never been one to just shut up and follow the crowd. My mother used to say I came into the world a month late, a...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Staff Leaving In Droves! Residents Revolting! Administration Ignoring All! HELP!

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    I feel the same way. These people may be elderly and frail, but they are NOT stupid, and they are sick and tired of promises and talk and management B.S. while nothing ever changes. Ever now and again...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    You know you have a great job when.....

    VivaLasViejas replied to UM Review RN's topic in General Nursing

    When you figure out that a resident who has battled episodes of facial pain for 25 years has trigeminal neuralgia, suggest it to her doctor, and take care of the whole problem with a little...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    If you could have a different profession...

    VivaLasViejas replied to anurseuk's topic in General Nursing

    All I've ever wanted to do (besides nursing) was, and still is, professional writing. I've been published in a number of newspapers and a couple of magazines, but if I could make a living from...