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. Can you provide a link to this
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Discussing bodily fuctions at lunch,.

    Know what you mean, Jessie. I hate feet too. YECCCHHHHH. My sister goes through the same thing at meals......my husband is the maintenance director at the same ALF where I work, oldest daughter also...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Discussing bodily fuctions at lunch,.

    When I was in my nursing program, about a dozen of us sort of took over the small cafeteria at our school. We'd be sitting there, chowing down and talking about all sorts of gross things we'd seen in...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    How is the high price of gasoline effecting your life?

    Me too. I'm also making sure the tires are properly inflated and the recommended maintenance gets done on
  5. VivaLasViejas

    headaches

    A lot of good advice has been shared here, and the OP now has a diagnosis. I love happy endings! Closing thread now as it has served its
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Question for Managers who do their own hiring......

    I'd hire you in a minute! When can you
  7. VivaLasViejas

    I just wanna be a DNR

    Well, the tune isn't so hot, but the message.........WOW!!!!! I totally
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Got the phone call, not the letter

    I just had MY callback mammogram---there was yet another 'calcification' they were concerned about, wouldn't you know it!---but it was OK too, thank God. I thought I was going to end up standing on my...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    From deadening boredom to high anxiety

    BTDT. I felt the same way about it that you do......I was bored to tears as a charge nurse in LTC, but all the excitement of acute care stressed me out so much that I eventually left for a "tamer"...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Dumbest thing you've done in nursing??

    Once, as a new med/surg nurse, I discharged a patient home without a doctor's order. Actually, I thought I'd gotten a verbal order from the doctor, who'd stopped by on her way to her office to check...
  11. VivaLasViejas

    What's YOUR nursing obsession?

    1) HANDWASHING!! I am totally anal-retentive about hand hygiene and nag my staff and family about it all the time. Hmmm........could it be a coincidence that I'm almost never ill? 2) Hydration---I'm...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Troubles as a new manager

    As the saying goes, "It's lonely at the top". Subordinates think all we do all day is sit behind a desk dreaming up busy-work projects and making it harder for them to do their "real" work. Our bosses...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Acused of no compassion

    Ditto the above. This has happened to me too, and the truth is, it's not that you're paranoid---when managers start making vague complaints like this, they really ARE out to get you. In fact, I'd be...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    I hated cat dissection!!! Will I hate nursing?!

    Being a cat lover, I hated that part of A&P as well. It has absolutely NO bearing on how you will handle nursing, however, so don't worry about it........it's just something many of us have to get...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Assisted living or LTC??

    I disagree. Assisted living nursing is all about assessment skills---if you don't have them, you won't make it in this field. Plus, ALF is much higher acuity than it used to be; my facility has a...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    Surgical vs General Medical Unit

    I really enjoyed the surgical patients for the most part when I was on med/surg.....sure, the ortho pts. were hard because of pain and heavy equipment (if I never have to deal with another CPM machine...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Results of 3rd Nursing Article Contest

    congratulations to all the
  18. And how old are you going to be in 6 or 7 years if you DON'T go for it?? Seriously........you've got at least four decades of work left. Might as well do this while you're young, and believe me, at 26...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    18 gauge insertion

    I'm just happy to know I'm not the only one who had trouble w/ 18G angiocaths. In my med/surg days I could get a 20 or 22 in almost anyone, but 18s were troublesome for me and I remember being...
  20. This thread has gotten out of hand, and will now be closed for a cooling-off
  21. Moderator's Note: This discussion has obviously touched a nerve, and it is beginning to get a wee bit testy. Please remember to debate the TOPIC and not other members. Thank
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Just wanting to thank the mods...

    My thanks to all of you who've posted so far! 'Tis true, moderating is often a thankless job, so we really do appreciate it when the members recognize that we aren't just a bunch of wet-blankets on a...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    How do you get someone to show you their butt?

    Oh, I'm sure you've had your bottom checked.........and yes, we can be sneaky when we need to be.:wink2: As a number of people have said, it's not really so difficult to get this done; you just make...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Wondering what Portland's like?

    This is actually VERY unusual weather for us, TeleRNer........in fact, I've never seen anything quite like it in the 20 years I've lived in the Willamette Valley. We've had a colder and...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Helping for easier IV access.

    And I'm the opposite---I can get an IV in almost anyone, but I HATE sticking babies and children.......don't like hurting the little