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

    What's It All About, ALFie?--Help and Support for Assisted Living Nurses

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    WELCOME!!! I love my job as Health Services Director/Assistant Administrator in a 42-bed ALF as well. I've been there just over eighteen months, and while there are days (and in this case, weekends)...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Rich nurses?

    VivaLasViejas replied to tiij's topic in General Nursing

    My family is far from poor, but am I overpaid for being on-call 24/7, getting phone calls at 3 AM about a fever of 100 degrees, being responsible for the work of 20 other staff members, answering...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    incapable, helpless, unmotivated, unteachable pts who are unable to cope with life

    VivaLasViejas replied to FireStarterRN's topic in General Nursing

    This is the second thread I've read today regarding some of the more marginal members of our society, about whom there tend to be a great many assumptions and yes, misconceptions. Unlike the thread...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Do you have time to cut diabetic toenails?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Blackcat99's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    Frankly, I feel much safer having a podiatrist do ANYONE'S hard, thick, contorted, fungus-y toenails, just because I don't trust my own skill (and yes, feet are gross!). And diabetics---well, I...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Do you have time to cut diabetic toenails?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Blackcat99's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I don't do my diabetics' FINGERNAILS, let alone toenails. I formally delegated fingernail trims to my care coordinator and do periodic re-checks to make sure she's competent, but I'm strictly hands...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Rescue me from myself - please

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

    I second that emotion! I'll be the first to admit I have many days when I wish my professional responsibilities began and ended with punching a time clock. Sometimes, it really stinks on ice when one...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Like Water Off a Duck's Back.........

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in General Nursing

    Life is just chock full of surprises...... You know, I used to be intimidated when doctors yelled at me. Even though I was close to 40 when I graduated from nursing school, and learned quickly to have...
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Like Water Off a Duck's Back.........

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in General Nursing

    Yeah. I sort of wondered about that too. I'll be the first to admit I was VERY unhappy when I sent that fax. But it was a lot more diplomatic than I'd have been on the phone with the MD who'd...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    I'm leaving LTC

    VivaLasViejas replied to SuesquatchRN's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    Sue~ I wish you all the best in your new venture!! Hope it works out for you, and that your next employer treats you well. Med-surg is the hardest job you'll ever love, but if you do love it, you'll...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Asthma?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Gottago's topic in Government, Military

    I think they're getting overextended to the point that they're taking almost anyone with a pulse. Seriously.......my 19-year-old is trying to get into the Navy, and they've told him his asthma won't...
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Can I be denied employment due to claustrophobia???

    VivaLasViejas replied to soontobenurse2's topic in General Nursing

    I, too, am HORRIBLY claustrophobic. I don't have that much of a problem with the TB masks, it was the fit-testing that gave me the heebie-jeebies and caused a lot of anxiety for me when I worked in a...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    does "you did well" followed

    VivaLasViejas replied to Sassybottom's topic in General Nursing

    I don't know enough about the situation to be able to judge...........but generally, when someone hugs me and says I did well, I accept the compliment at face value and move
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Too much big brother ?

    VivaLasViejas replied to time4meRN's topic in General Nursing

    If they think the nursing shortage is bad now, wait till they drive all the overweight, hypertensive, diabetic, back-injured, recovering alcoholic smokers out of the
  14. VivaLasViejas

    My nightmarish experience

    VivaLasViejas replied to Anona's topic in General Nursing

    Think of it this way: That's a mistake you'll never make again!:) If I had a dollar for every time I myself have made a mistake, or spoken with another nurse who's made mistakes, I'd be a rich woman....
  15. VivaLasViejas

    My CROCS made me fall tonight..

    VivaLasViejas replied to jodyangel's topic in Scrubs, Uniforms, Gear

    Yup.........me too. Isn't it fun when your foot comes to an abrupt stop, but the rest of you continues in the original direction at the original velocity? Happens to me all the time, no matter WHAT I...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    Are you an Indian?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Thunderwolf's topic in General Nursing

    I'm so glad you've shared this story with us. I'm 1/32nd Cherokee, and even though I'm proud of that, my parents told me I didn't have 'enough' Cherokee blood to be considered an Indian. It's good to...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Hospital wants pts restained rather than pay for sitters

    VivaLasViejas replied to DebRN06's topic in General Nursing

    If JCAHO were to get hold of this, they'd chew up your administrators and spit them out so fast it would make their heads spin. Restraining patients is supposed to be the very LAST resort. It is a...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Male Nurses attending to female patients (morals vrs ethics)

    VivaLasViejas replied to nkmorale's topic in Male Nursing Students

    Female nurses care for male patients all the time. And don't male doctors care for female patients in large numbers? Where is the controversy? While certain cultural sensitivities exist that make it...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Going to have to get hospital job...so depressed

    VivaLasViejas replied to Jo Dirt's topic in General Nursing

    I second THAT emotion..........wise words indeed,
  20. VivaLasViejas

    Can a white student get a minority scholarship?

    VivaLasViejas replied to HogNurse's topic in Post Graduate Students

    Thank you for your perspective, Tweety. You have put this in a different light, and while I'd still have felt awkward about applying for a minority scholarship for myself back in my college days, I...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Is med-surg like the nursing home?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Jo Dirt's topic in Medical-Surgical

    That's why I got the heck outta Dodge while I still had my license AND some of my sanity. I'm a strong person, but three years on a med/surg floor---the last eighteen months of which were under an...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Falls

    VivaLasViejas replied to busy-bee's topic in General Nursing

    In a word: YES! In theory, residents do have the "right" to fall. They also have a right to be protected from falls, and personal alarms are only one of the many weapons in the fall-prevention...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Harassment?

    VivaLasViejas replied to UM Review RN's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    Not THIS nurse-manager, that's for darn sure! "Team-building" is nothing more than administration code-speak for "let's treat adults like a batch of four-year-olds and watch 'em squirm". Angie, I say...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Is med-surg like the nursing home?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Jo Dirt's topic in Medical-Surgical

    Med/surg is about as much like a nursing home as tigers are like housecats---they're in the same family, but there are HUGE differences in size and disposition! Just an aside: I have to admit I'm...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Harassment?

    VivaLasViejas replied to UM Review RN's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I was just about to say the same thing. While I wouldn't define this sort of thing as harassment---which is actually a legal term---that caller needs to get a life, and the institution needs to stop...