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

    Why are we exhausted all the time?

    VivaLasViejas replied to wooh's topic in General Nursing

    That didn't even work in my last nurse manager/"office" job......in fact, interruptions were part of the reason I burned out and then basically flipped out. If people are beating on my door every 5...
  2. VivaLasViejas

    Need feedback: Medicalization..raising awareness and potential study?

    VivaLasViejas replied to medisec's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    The costs of these programs are borne by the nurse, of course. Which is interesting considering that it's very difficult to find a nursing job as it is, let alone with stipulations. I honestly don't...
  3. VivaLasViejas

    Writing multiple times?

    VivaLasViejas replied to loriangel14's topic in General Nursing

    Let me put it this way: I love music and I love to sing, and indeed I'd do it for a living if I could. There's only one small problem with that: I'm not very good at it. In fact, I have a terrible...
  4. VivaLasViejas

    Why are we exhausted all the time?

    VivaLasViejas replied to wooh's topic in General Nursing

    Nailed
  5. VivaLasViejas

    Playing With Fire: Seeing "Noncompliance" In A New Light

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Patient Medications

    Yes......it's amazing how seeing the effects of poor health decisions can change one's point of view. Unfortunately, for some of us it takes a little more than that. With me, it took being diagnosed...
  6. VivaLasViejas

    Playing With Fire: Seeing "Noncompliance" In A New Light

    VivaLasViejas posted a topic in Patient Medications

    I guess it was meant to happen. Another failed experiment....another life lesson learned. Like most people in the healthcare professions, I make a lousy patient. I sometimes skip doctor visits and...
  7. VivaLasViejas

    Best advice for dealing with the ups and downs

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

    What you are feeling is totally normal under the circumstances. And that's a shame. We nurses are like frogs in a boiling pot. We're put in while the water's pleasantly warm, and then the heat is...
  8. VivaLasViejas

    Did I do the right thing?

    VivaLasViejas replied to nurs1ng's topic in General Nursing

    I
  9. VivaLasViejas

    Top medications used in LTC

    VivaLasViejas replied to jkline18's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    WAAAAAAAY too many vitamins and supplements!! We have one resident who's supposedly on 'comfort care' with Stage IV lung cancer and has trouble taking pills. Yet in addition to the eight Rx meds he...
  10. VivaLasViejas

    Help! Need advice with tough situation.

    VivaLasViejas replied to Nurse7970's topic in General Nursing

    A wise physician once told me, "'Better' is often the enemy of 'good'". In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Stay where you are, learn all you can, and build yourself a great reputation....
  11. VivaLasViejas

    Non-compliant patients

    VivaLasViejas replied to tpecina's topic in General Nursing

    The first thing to do is stop labeling the patient as "noncompliant". Perhaps if we attempt to educate him (while looking at his diagnosis from HIS standpoint) and use a little empathy, he may be less...
  12. VivaLasViejas

    Pre-employment fitness tests

    VivaLasViejas replied to mhampe's topic in Nursing Career

    Sheesh, do they want a nurse or an athlete? I've noticed that an increasing number of companies require some sort of physical capabilities test, but the ones I've seen just put the candidate through a...
  13. VivaLasViejas

    Need feedback: Medicalization..raising awareness and potential study?

    VivaLasViejas replied to medisec's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    It's different in each state. Some don't even ask, while others want to know if you've been treated for ANY kind of mental illness in the past five years. In my state, the wording of the question is...
  14. VivaLasViejas

    Need feedback: Medicalization..raising awareness and potential study?

    VivaLasViejas replied to medisec's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    Technically, anyone with a mental disorder has to notify the BON of that fact. It's up to the Board to decide if the licensee needs to be in the monitoring program. TBH, I don't think they do that...
  15. VivaLasViejas

    Sleeping on night shift in LTC

    VivaLasViejas replied to Blackcat99's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    If she is on her lunch break and her residents are covered, she should be able to nap. She is NOT being paid for that half-hour, so she should be able to do whatever she wants (within legal limits and...
  16. VivaLasViejas

    The Oath is 'First, Do No Harm' (Not First, Do Not Disappoint)

    VivaLasViejas replied to beckster_01's topic in Activism, Healthcare

    That's what a lot of us nurses don't appreciate sometimes......physicians are often treated as badly by the "customer service" model of healthcare as we are, and the average doctor has no more power...
  17. VivaLasViejas

    i believe it's time to call it quits......

    VivaLasViejas replied to Junebug59's topic in Nurses Recovery

    You have my sympathies, virgojd! I don't have any DUIs or a criminal record, but that was only through the grace of God......I'm a recovering alcoholic (21 yrs. sobriety) and diagnosed bipolar who's...
  18. VivaLasViejas

    Playing With Fire: Seeing "Noncompliance" In A New Light

    VivaLasViejas replied to VivaLasViejas's topic in Patient Medications

    Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you. Many of the elderly in this country are WAY overmedicated, IMHO. I pass meds sometimes in a nursing home, and it's ridiculous---not only 10+...
  19. VivaLasViejas

    Need feedback: Medicalization..raising awareness and potential study?

    VivaLasViejas replied to medisec's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    I would definitely be interested in participating, should you decide to continue with your research on this topic. Personally, I'm all for anything that opens a dialogue and gets people to thinking....
  20. VivaLasViejas

    "A Day In the Life of Nurse Eye Roll'

    VivaLasViejas replied to bigsick_littlesick's topic in Nursing Humor

    That. is. AWESOME. I'm now following her
  21. VivaLasViejas

    Can I still become a nurse with a disease

    VivaLasViejas replied to trew1020's topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    I seriously doubt you'll have a problem. Celiac disease is relatively common and it seems like a lot of people are going gluten-free even if they don't "have" to. Besides, if every nurse was required...
  22. VivaLasViejas

    Interview Attire

    VivaLasViejas replied to green34's topic in Job Search, Interview, Resume

    I don't own a suit, and I've changed sizes so often that I couldn't afford to have them in every size from 22 to 32. But I have a wonderful outfit consisting of a black blouse, black dress slacks, and...
  23. VivaLasViejas

    Can a diagnosis of a mental illness potentially harm your chances of getting a job?

    VivaLasViejas replied to BlackBettyRN,OCN's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    That's very understandable. When you hear on the news every time it happens that the latest wannabe school shooter or mass murderer "had a history of mental illness", the stigma gets worse, and the...
  24. VivaLasViejas

    Can someone with add , adhd and that has a learning disability go to RN school?

    VivaLasViejas replied to jerseygirl51991's topic in Nurse Disabilities

    A lot depends on whether your ADD is controlled on meds, and what kind of learning disability you have. You'd do well to talk to an advisor at your local community college and take a couple of classes...
  25. VivaLasViejas

    What is the proper way to address a resident who was a titled health professional?

    VivaLasViejas replied to michiganstudent's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I call them whatever THEY choose to be called. A number of years ago, I worked with a resident who had been a physician in China for 30 years, and the rest of the staff called him by his first name....