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

    New Nurse on Paxil

    VivaLasViejas replied to elomi18's topic in Health, Stress Management

    Here's my take on anti-anxiety meds: I take mine only on the nights when I want to sleep and not be anxious the next day. Of course it's all right to take medication for anxiety; for some of us that's...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    What nursing task do you loathe???

    VivaLasViejas replied to richardgecko's topic in General Nursing

    Oral care, especially cleaning nasty dentures.
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Should I take a job in Nursing home

    VivaLasViejas replied to Sanhect1's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I got three days orientation as a new grad in a SNF before I was thrown to the lions. I made it through, but I had to take charge of my own learning process and ask endless questions, read policy and...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Any Registered Nurses that are state surveyors???

    VivaLasViejas replied to 1964nurse's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    In smaller states, surveyors can be required to travel to any location within the state. If you are interested, check your state government website and get a job description. The site will also tell...
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Lucky he was constipated, or he'd be dead

    VivaLasViejas replied to adventure_rn's topic in General Nursing

    I took my husband to the ER for right shoulder and upper quadrant pain. His doctor and I both believed it was his gallbladder and ordered a CT. Well, his GB was full of stones all right, but that...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Craziest vitals on a person who lived?

    VivaLasViejas replied to guest64485's topic in General Nursing

    My husband was in the hospital and feeling a bit lightheaded when the nurse decided to check a blood glucose. It was 29! And he was alert, oriented and talkative. His average fasting BG is around 65....
  7. VivaLasViejas

    who has left nursing ?

    VivaLasViejas replied to sabatical's topic in Retired Nurses

    We might be able to help you better if we knew a little more about your situation. Please fill us in on some
  8. VivaLasViejas

    WELL, WOULD YOU???

    VivaLasViejas replied to nurse2211's topic in General Nursing

    Never in a million years. Not because I don't believe in the cause---with a husband diagnosed with cancer, I'm all for research!---but because my butt is the size of a washtub and would take up the...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    What I learned this week (6/27)...

    VivaLasViejas replied to ixchel's topic in General Nursing

    I learned that there is such a thing as blue ice
  10. VivaLasViejas

    You should know better

    VivaLasViejas replied to adventure_rn's topic in General Nursing

    I eat fatty foods and don't exercise. I put off going to the GYN and am terrified of dentists. OTOH, I don't smoke or drink. I'm good about taking my meds as ordered every day, going to my PCP and...
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Good News!

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I just got my first Social Security check Friday after waiting only the minimum time. To say that this is a blessing would be the understatement of the year; my DH and I were within $200 of being flat...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    What Blog(s) Do You Like/Follow?

    VivaLasViejas replied to AllieSparksRN's topic in General Nursing

    My two favorites are non-nursing related but I love them anyway...The Bloggess and Hyperbole and a Half. Great stufffrom a pair of ladies who deal with anxiety and
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Funny Things Patients Say

    VivaLasViejas replied to PMFB-RN's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I was explaining the process of a colonoscopy prep to a patient scheduled for one the next morning (this was when we admitted pts the day prior to the procedure). She made a sour face when I told her...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Any PTSD from nursing?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Vtachy1's topic in Health, Stress Management

    I'm pretty sure I had it---I was a total stress-monkey during my career, which ended too early due to both physical and mental issues. I still wake up nights sometimes with my heart in my throat,...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Apologies

    VivaLasViejas replied to nursingaround1's topic in General Nursing

    This just gets curiouser and
  16. VivaLasViejas

    Esme welcome back!!!!

    VivaLasViejas replied to emtb2rn's topic in General Nursing

    Welcome home, my dear
  17. VivaLasViejas

    What is your favorite shift to work.

    VivaLasViejas replied to mcclot1993's topic in General Nursing

    .I'm one of those weirdos who liked the 3-11 shift. Plenty of time to do stuff in the latter part of the morning or early afternoon, plus I could stay up late and sleep in per my natural circadian...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    No visiting hours?

    VivaLasViejas replied to NursesRmofun's topic in General Nursing

    Unlike my recent hospitalization on the med/surg floor where people flowed in and out of my roommate's side of the room all day and night, I remember being very limited on visiting hours when I was in...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    No visiting hours?

    VivaLasViejas replied to NursesRmofun's topic in General Nursing

    I was inpatient for kidney surgery last week and it was just my luck that my roommate had nonstop visitors all day and half the night. Yap, yap, yap, most of it in Tagalog, and it never stopped until...
  20. VivaLasViejas

    Who/what am I? Wordy, sorry.

    VivaLasViejas replied to dthfytr's topic in Retired Nurses

    Once a nurse, always a nurse! I feel for you, dthfytr. I became disabled last year due to a combination of mental and physical illnesses that made it all but impossible for me to work. I'm on...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Please don't call me Dude

    VivaLasViejas replied to Emergent's topic in General Nursing

    The one thing I can't stand is being called "honey", "sweetie", or "dear" by someone who is decades younger than I. I love it when an older person does it, but when someone in their 20s or 30s says...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    My Fibro

    VivaLasViejas replied to Guest219794's topic in General Nursing

    Oh dear, I hope this thread doesn't devolve into bashing people on disability. Some are so disabled physically and/or mentally that work is not an option, and I'd like to think my fellow nurses...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    My Fibro

    VivaLasViejas replied to Guest219794's topic in General Nursing

    I don't see the problem with calling chronic conditions "my (blank)". I have an array of diagnoses that I call "my" diabetes/arthritis/bipolar etc. After all, they ARE mine---I own them. They don't...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Should your state board ask about mental illness? Need help with research hypothesis

    VivaLasViejas replied to macanes's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    "Serious" mental illness does have an objective set of criteria that must be met for an MI to qualify as such. There must be a moderate to severe impact on one's functionality in different areas of...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Nurse director of Assisted Living

    VivaLasViejas replied to jadelpn's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    The reason there are lots of jobs in AL is because they're terrible. You have all the responsibility but very little authority; you're on-call 24/7/365; you often have to cover call-ins in addition to...