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

    legal mandation length (illinois)?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Oswin's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I would have a chat with the National Labor Relations Board about this. Your employer can't make you work 24 hours straight---for one thing it's completely unsafe for the patients---and poor planning...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    My Reflections on Nursing

    VivaLasViejas replied to sjalv's topic in General Nursing

    There is nothing in your post to pick apart. I hope you're able to maintain this view once you've been a nurse for awhile. Nursing needs its idealists; we can't all be cynical and jaded, or we lose...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Colace & MI

    VivaLasViejas replied to tiffc8433's topic in Patient Medications

    Riddle me this: would you want your patient straining at stool after a cardiac event? Why or why
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Do you have to call your nurse manager before you call the doctor?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Blackcat99's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I worked for a place like that once. Guess who I didn't call when my resident's blood sugar was 28 and the Glucagon didn't bring him around? (I did leave her a
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Would you do this...? Thoughts....

    VivaLasViejas replied to amoLucia's topic in General Nursing

    No. Freaking. Way. I've never had an NG tube myself but I have inserted them, and the experience can be nightmarish for the patient. I'll take my chances with losing weight the "hard way",
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Please stop! Little things that are just bad practice.

    VivaLasViejas replied to JBudd's topic in Nursing Professionalism

    Why on earth don't they do the smart thing and get your mother a bedside commode?? This is not difficult. That way she can get up and do her thing without having to disconnect the IV. It's more...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Your Family?

    VivaLasViejas replied to lasair's topic in Psychiatric

    OK, back to the topic at hand: My family would've thrown a fit if they'd known about some of the situations I was in, even on a med/surg/psych floor. I got a chunk torn out of my wrist by an HIV +...
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Your Family?

    VivaLasViejas replied to lasair's topic in Psychiatric

    That's scary. I have quite a bit of trouble with my memory, although whether it's due to my bipolar disorder or the five meds I take to treat it, I don't know. I've thought about asking my p-doc to...
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Your Family?

    VivaLasViejas replied to lasair's topic in Psychiatric

    Geriatric?! 55??! Say it isn't so...... Off-topic, I'm curious as to how many of your patients in their 50s come in with dementia dx as opposed to psych, or in addition to
  10. VivaLasViejas

    You did not just do that?!

    VivaLasViejas replied to Girlafraid13's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    One of my co-workers cut her thumb while breaking an ampule and yelled "G-d- it!!!" in the hospital room of a Baptist
  11. VivaLasViejas

    How do you say "diabetes"?

    VivaLasViejas replied to klone's topic in General Nursing

    I couldn't stand the way Wilford Brimley pronounced it, so I'm very careful to enunciate it carefully.
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Sharing a Preceptor???

    VivaLasViejas replied to paging_nurserae's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    When I was a preceptor, I usually had two preceptees if they were experienced nurses who were new to our unit. It worked out fine unless one of the newbies was a little slower than the other to catch...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Feeling like a failure

    VivaLasViejas replied to asix1961's topic in General Nursing

    I was an "older" (late 30s) nurse when I graduated, and one of the things I learned very quickly was that the expectations were higher because I was older, even though I was just as green as the other...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Changing to a non-nursing career?

    VivaLasViejas replied to Eleven011's topic in Retired Nurses

    I don't feel like I picked the wrong career path, even though I'm burned out and can no longer do nursing. I had a good career for the most part, and I expected to be able to stick with it till I was...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    How important is your 'look' as a nurse

    VivaLasViejas replied to Nola009's topic in Nursing Professionalism

    Presenting a professional appearance isn't rocket science. If you have long hair, control it by putting it up or tying it back; wear a conservative dress or suit, but don't look like you're attending...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    Would you get low census in scenario?

    VivaLasViejas replied to adnrnstudent's topic in General Nursing

    I agree. The only nurses who would come in extra were the ones who either lived for the job or had no
  17. VivaLasViejas

    Would you get low census in scenario?

    VivaLasViejas replied to adnrnstudent's topic in General Nursing

    The hospital where I worked would always call off the nurse who'd be in OT, even if it was her/his scheduled
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Med techs and continuous feeding

    VivaLasViejas replied to GLORIAmunchkin72's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    Where I worked, the med aides were allowed to start and stop continuous feedings and flush the tubing, but only the nurses gave meds and bolus
  19. VivaLasViejas

    L'Shana Tova

    VivaLasViejas replied to RNsRWe's topic in Spirituality, Religion

    Happy New Year to all of my Jewish friends here at AN! May it be filled with everything (and everyone) you
  20. VivaLasViejas

    Night shift nurse responsibilities

    VivaLasViejas replied to bTRUE's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I remember running my rear end off on NOCs. Literally. I lost 40 pounds in the year and a half that I worked NOC shift in LTC. For some reason the RCM liked to schedule treatments for 0500, which...
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Please help!

    VivaLasViejas replied to Krk410's topic in Nurses Recovery

    There but for the grace of God.....I OD'd on Ativan a year ago after almost 22 years of perfect sobriety (I'm a recovering alcoholic), luckily I didn't have to go to the hospital so it was never...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    How to overcome low morale in my dream workplace

    VivaLasViejas replied to Cmoss's topic in General Nursing

    I think you need to take people's complaints with a large grain of salt, and keep an open mind. It's way too early to worry whether you made the right decision and it would be foolish to allow...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Don't tell the manager about your second job

    VivaLasViejas replied to perfexion's topic in General Nursing

    I've worked in a handful of facilities that strongly discouraged moonlighting. Why? Potential conflict of interest. They also were afraid we might give away their "trade secrets" to competitors. No,...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Why do we hate admissions?

    VivaLasViejas replied to firstinfamily's topic in General Nursing

    I used to work in an LTC whose admission packet was 16 pages. This included a complete head-to-toe physical and psychosocial assessment, side rail assessment and consent to use them, psychotropic med...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    Giving versus taking...lol

    VivaLasViejas replied to Brian's topic in Nurses Rock

    I used to be great at IVs, but it took me years to perfect my techniques. Now that I've been out of acute care for almost a decade, I don't think I could do it like I used to, although I took an IV...