Monday, July 29, 2013

Tube Feeding test questions

These are test questions regarding tube feedings:
1.      When caring for a resident with a feeding tube, the CNA should elevate the HOB at least 45 degrees during feeding
2.      When a resident’s gastric infusion pump is alarming the CNA should notify the nurse
3.      A resident with continuous tube feeding should be positioned with the head of bed elevated
4.      Mrs green has just had her tube feeding and she wants her HOB down, the CNA should leave the HOB up for one hour
5.      Resident’s with tube feedings require frequent oral hygiene
6.      The CNA’s role in caring for a resident with a tube feeding is to observe for kinks in the tubing
7.      CNA’s role is to keep the HOB elevated after a tube feeding according to the charge nurse’s instruction
8.      The role and responsibility of the CNA when caring for a resident who is on tube feeding would include using extreme care when repositioning the resident

Friday, July 26, 2013

Light a candle

Reposted from
This is a blog I follow that brings light to the lives children face in Eastern European Orphanges. Take a minute to read through the blog and say a prayer for these children.
Carol
The Lost Boys
  
             Hanson belonged to a special group of boys who live in a certain orphanage in Eastern Europe, the orphanage where we adopted our son Aaron. Like Aaron and all the other boys at that orphanage, Hanson wasn’t a typical child; he was born with some special needs that kept him from developing as typical, healthy children do. In that part of the world, the usual way to handle a birth like Hanson’s is to hand the child over to the state government, which then places the child in a state orphanage called a baby house. Once in a great while, a child is fortunate enough to be adopted from his baby house; but if he isn’t, as Hanson wasn’t, then the state sends him to a special needs orphanage for older children, aged about 5 – 20. Most of the children who end up in these older-child special needs orphanages can only ever leave the orphanage system by dying, which is the way Hanson left it.
               The quality of life in these special needs orphanages varies from bad to worse. At their best, such orphanages are poor, lonely places; but at their worst, they can be truly horrifying. While most Eastern European orphanages have enough funding for food and basic medical care, many do not have enough funding for any sort of education, activities or therapy. Even in Aaron’s part of the orphanage— the part for boys who could walk and talk— there were no toys, no books and no fun of any kind. The boys spent their days sitting in outdoor sheds, staring into space and waiting for the next mealtime to break up their boredom; or, if it was rainy or cold, they sat inside a single, undecorated room with no toys all day. Watching these boys, we were constantly reminded of how much they had lost: they had lost their parents; they had lost their chance to be adopted; and they had lost their chance to receive the help they so desperately needed. Worst of all, they had lost everything that makes life worth living: love, friendship and the hope of a brighter future. It was because of all these losses that we started calling the boys we left behind, boys like Hanson, the Lost Boys.
               As bad as Aaron’s part of the orphanage was, Hanson’s part was far worse. Since Hanson’s special needs prevented him from walking and talking, he went to a lying-down room— a place where children lie in their cribs all day, every day, with no one to hold them, play with them or even talk to them. For food, many lying-down-room children receive only 2 or 3 bottle feedings a day, delivered through high-volume nipples so that they must choke it down as quickly as possible or miss their chance to eat. For care, they receive only diaper changes; and since money and staffing are tight, some are allotted only 2 diapers per day— which means that they spend hours each day lying in their own waste. Through lying down all the time, children like Hanson grow so stiff that many of them can’t bend their legs or waists. They lie in a daze, idly poking at the bars of their cribs; for they know that if they try to get out, then their caretakers will come and tie them down. All of this sad mistreatment because Hanson couldn’t walk and talk— which he might possibly have been able to do, if anyone had taken the time to help him.
               In the end, Hanson gave this sin-shattered world what it seemed to want. Exhausted from living without love for so long, Hanson could no longer find any reason to live; so he relieved the world of the burden of caring for him by dying. Hanson’s death, though, could not relieve the world of a far greater burden: the sin the world carries for ignoring the cries of one of the “least of these” Christ’s brothers, the ones He cared for above all. That burden the world will carry until Judgment Day.

"The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

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Light a candle for Hanson.

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Light a Candle for Hanson and the Lost Boys. 
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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Ha ha someone crashed in the water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laTMBiywCEo&feature=youtu.be

Getting yourself up off the floor with a Hoyer Lift

Getting yourself up off the floor with a Hoyer

Nightmares After the I.C.U.

JULY 22, 2013, 5:41 PM

Nightmares After the I.C.U.

When Lygia Dunsworth was sedated, intubated and strapped down in the intensive care unit at a Fort Worth hospital, she was racked by paranoid hallucinations:
Outside her window, she saw helicopters evacuating patients from an impending tornado, leaving her behind. Nurses plotted to toss her into rough lake waters. She hallucinated an escape from the I.C.U. — she ducked into a food freezer, only to find herself surrounded by body parts.
Mrs. Dunsworth, who had been gravely ill from abdominal infections and surgeries, eventually recovered physically. But for several years, her stay in intensive care tormented her. She had short-term memory loss and difficulty sleeping. She would not go into the ocean or a lake. She was terrified to fly or even travel alone.
Nor would she talk about it. “Either people think you’re crazy or you scare them,” said Mrs. Dunsworth, 54, a registered nurse in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In fact, she was having symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Annually, about five million patients stay in an intensive care unit in the United States. Studies show that up to 35 percent may have symptoms of PTSD for as long as two years after that experience, particularly if they had a prolonged stay due to a critical illness with severe infection or respiratory failure. Those persistent symptoms include intrusive thoughts, avoidant behaviors, mood swings, emotional numbness and reckless behavior.
Yet I.C.U.-induced PTSD has been largely unidentified and untreated. When patients leave the I.C.U., said Dr. O. Joseph Bienvenu, a psychiatrist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, “Everyone pays attention to whether patients can walk and how weak they are. But it’s the exception for them to be screened for psychiatric symptoms like post-traumatic stress or low mood.”
Now critical care specialists are trying to prevent or shorten the duration of the mood disorders, which can rattle not only I.C.U. patients but their frantic relatives. Sometimes family members, rather than the sedated patient, develop the symptoms of having been traumatized, tormented by memories of a loved one thrashing in restraints, delirious, near death. Other PTSD sufferers — victims of combat, sexual assault or natural disasters — also endure flashbacks, but theirs are grounded in episodes that can often be corroborated. What is unsettling for post-I.C.U. patients is that no one can verify their seemingly real horrors; one patient described a food cart in the I.C.U. selling strips of her flayed flesh.
“I.C.U. patients have vivid memories of events that objectively didn’t occur,” Dr. Bienvenu said. “They recall being raped and tortured as opposed to what really happened,” such as painful procedures like the insertion of catheters and IV lines.
The I.C.U. setting itself can feel sinister to patients, as if lifted from “The Twilight Zone.” The eerie, sleep-indifferent lights. The cacophony of machines and alarms.
Certain treatments in the I.C.U. may be grim, but they are essential. Intubation, for example: Patients who need help breathing must have a plastic tube placed down their windpipes for mechanical ventilation. The feeling of near-suffocation and the inability to speak can be nightmarish. Such invasive procedures may raise the odds that a patient develops PTSD.
A longer I.C.U. stay also increases the risk of post-traumatic symptoms. But some patients arrive more vulnerable to PTSD. Women may be more at risk than men, as are patients with a history of depression or other emotional difficulties. Because patients are often rushed to the I.C.U. unexpectedly, doctors cannot take a psychological history.
Age may be a factor. Elderly patients generally recover more slowly, but younger patients may be more likely to develop symptoms of PTSD. Experts suspect that young patients, further from natural mortality, are even more shaken by the possibility of unanticipated death.
Moreover, the violent events that land patients in the I.C.U., like gunshots and car crashes, tend to happen to younger people, noted Dr. Babar Ali Khan, an assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Those events also exacerbate the onset of PTSD, he said.
But researchers have begun to identify the I.C.U. treatment that has led to the most harrowing flashbacks: sedation.
Sedation — to manage pain and compel patients to lie still and not fight the ventilator — is crucial in the I.C.U. But many sedatives contribute to the patient’s delirium and intense hallucinations, which can return, unbidden, for years.
A British doctor, Sarah Wake, was a 25-year-old intern when in 2011 she was intubated and sedated in the I.C.U. following a severe reaction to an asthma medication. She described her hallucinations in the British journal BMJ in May: “Blood seeping through holes and cracks in my skin, forming a puddle of red around me.”
She wrote that the fragmented delusional memories made it difficult for her to understand what had happened. “This prevented my psychological recovery and led to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
For months she could not work in a hospital. Even now, after therapy, she is practicing medicine again and yet, she wrote, “I still cannot bear a shower curtain to be drawn as it reminds me of closed hospital curtains and hidden death.”
Dr. Wake was given benzodiazepines, a class of sedatives that includes Valium and Ativan, as well as opioids for pain. Researchers now believe that benzodiazepines may intensify the hallucinations that are so disturbing to I.C.U. patients.
The philosophy about I.C.U. sedation has gone through pendulum swings. In the 1970s, patients on ventilators were allowed to remain awake. But doctors turned to benzodiazepines to calm anxious patients and prevent them from fighting the tubes. If a patient was heavily sedated, thought doctors, the resulting amnesia about the ordeal would be worthwhile.
But in the last decade, researchers have realized that the benzodiazepines did not just give patients amnesia: the delirium and hallucinations they may also trigger in critically ill patients may set the stage for PTSD. Opioids can also cause delirium. Dose and duration are also relevant.
In January, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, concerned about the weakened physical, cognitive and psychological condition of many post-I.C.U. patients, released new sedation guidelines.
They urged I.C.U. doctors to treat pain first and only then to weigh using benzodiazepines for anxiety. Although evidence is not definitive, lighter sedation seems tied to better cognitive and physical rehabilitative recovery, as well as fewer and less shattering hallucinations. I.C.U. staff were encouraged to keep assessing patients for pain, alertness and delirium.
Dr. Dale M. Needham, an associate professor in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins, noted that even when the sedation has stopped, a patient’s delirium may continue.
Many patients return home mentally shaken, with physical and cognitive weaknesses. Dr. Needham said they haven’t “fully recovered within six months or a year.” Therefore, he added, the I.C.U. stay can place a lingering burden on both the patient and the family.
I.C.U. nurses have taken the lead in efforts to alleviate the trauma of stays and to shorten the duration of the subsequent mood disorders, for both families as well as patients. In Britain, Germany and some Scandinavian countries, nurses in many critical care units keep a diary of the care they provide to a patient, with contributions from the family, which they give to the patient upon discharge. The diaries function as a realistic counterpoint to patients’ hallucinations or amnesia.
Judy E. Davidson, research nurse liaison for themedical center at the University of California, San Diego,and a former critical care nurse, teaches nurses to work with relatives of I.C.U. patients to reduce post-trauma symptoms of their own.
“The antecedent to PTSD is fear, horror and helplessness,” Dr. Davidson said. “If you give relatives things to do — applying lip balm and hand lotion to the patient, keeping their joints limber — it keeps their minds active and decreases the fear response and helplessness.”
The details of what happens in the I.C.U. often stay in the I.C.U.: primary care physicians rarely learn about their patients’ difficult journeys there, and so often do not evaluate them for problems that may have arisen. In the interim, a handful of hospitals in the United States are focusing on the challenges faced by post-I.C.U. patients, including PTSD.
Once a week for the last two years, Dr. Khan, a pulmonologist, has been seeing patients at the Critical Care Recovery Center at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis. His team treats post-I.C.U. patients who have spent at least two days on a mechanical ventilator or suffered acute brain dysfunction during that period. About half, he said, develop PTSD.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been running a post-I.C.U. clinic on Friday afternoons since last fall. Typically, the treatment team includes a critical care nurse-practitioner, a psychologist, a pharmacist, a pulmonologist and a nurse who functions in a social worker capacity. They evaluate patients for physical, cognitive, social and psychological impairments.
But whether patients or family members develop PTSD symptoms or the full disorder, persuading them to seek treatment poses unique challenges.
About three years ago a woman, then 35, had a hysterectomy at a Tennessee community hospital but developed a severe infection. She awoke in the I.C.U., intubated, with delusions that she had been raped and that her family had abandoned her.

Whooping Cough Vaccine Lags in Efficacy

Whooping Cough Vaccine Lags in Efficacy

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is on the rise. In California, for instance, the incidence of the disease rose in 2010 to its highest level in 50 years. One reason may be the change from a whole cell vaccine to the currently used acellular version.
The whole cell vaccine had side effects, some mild (irritation at the vaccination site, for example) and some severe (seizures in about 1 in 2,000 cases). The new vaccine has been used since 1996.
Now a new study, published online in BMJ, has examined the effectiveness of the vaccine in 2010 and 2011 among people older than 11. The analysis included more than 32,000 Californians, and there were 668 laboratory-confirmed cases of pertussis.
The tetanus and diphtheria vaccines, which are given in a combination dose with the pertussis vaccine in a shot known as Tdap, are close to 100 percent effective. But the researchers found that the effectiveness of acellular pertussis in this age group was only 53 to 64 percent.
Still, the lead author, Dr. Roger Baxter, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, said the acellular pertussis is “a good vaccine, and a great tool for health care. But it could be better, and I hope that manufacturers begin work on a vaccine that has better effectiveness.”

Traditional gender stereotyping of parents persists in children's picture books

This content is made possible by the generous sponsorship support of UCare.

Traditional gender stereotyping of parents persists in children's picture books

books
Gender stereotyping of parental roles is common throughout the decades in recent children's literature.
BY SUSAN PERRY
Although 67 percent of American moms now have jobs outside the home and American dads are far more involved in their children’s lives than they were even a generation ago, you — and your children — will find little evidence of those cultural shifts in children’s picture books.
For, according to a recent study, traditional gender stereotyping continues to dominate literature aimed at young children.
Just as they were decades ago, moms are much more likely than dads to be depicted as nurturers and caregivers in picture books, and dads are much more likely than moms to be shown as providers who work outside the home.
The findings surprised the Shepherd University researchers who conducted the study. They had expected the parental roles portrayed in picture books to more closely reflect the changing role realities of the broader U.S. society.

A century of books

For the study, Shepherd University sociologist Amy DeWitt and her colleagues analyzed a random sample of 300 “easy children’s books” from the more than 1,400 listed in the 2001 Children’s Catalog, which is compiled by a committee of librarians and used to help school and community libraries select quality books for their collections.
The sample included 50 books from the years 1900 through 1959, 50 from each of the final four decades of the 20th century ('60s, '70s, '80s and '90s), and 50 from the year 2000. (Only 50 were chosen from the first 59 years of the 20th century because of the smaller number of children’s books published during that period and because the researchers predicted that traditional parent roles had remained somewhat stable during that time frame.)
For the analysis, DeWitt and her colleagues made notes on the actions taken by parents in the books. Those actions were broken down into five separate behavioral categories: nurturing (such as expressing affection for or praising the child), disciplining (such as scolding or spanking the child), caregiving (such as cooking for or bathing the child), companionship (such as playing with the child), and providing (working outside the home).

Stubborn stereotypes

The researchers were not surprised to find that gender stereotyping of parental roles was common throughout the literature. But they were surprised to find that those stereotypes softened only slightly by the start of the 21st century.
“Mothers in the books were more likely than fathers to perform almost every nurturingbehavior, including verbal and physical expressions of love, encouraging, praising and listening,” write DeWitt and her colleagues.
Mothers were also three times more likely to be shown cooking, feeding, cleaning and dressing children.
The only exception occurred during the 1970s, when the selected books portrayed fathers as providing more nurturing and caregiving than mothers. But that change was not statistically significant, DeWitt and her colleagues note, and it disappeared in subsequent decades.

Moms and jobs

The study also found that mothers were much less likely than fathers to be portrayed outside their traditional domestic roles. In other words, the picture books — even those that were published in 2001 — were more likely to show a dad being a nurturer than a mother being a provider with a job outside the home.
In fact, fathers were almost five times more likely than mothers to be employed in the books.
“It must be noted,” write DeWitt and her colleagues, “that among ‘employed’ mothers a couple outlandish occupations (i.e., the Easter bunny-mother; an artist-mother who painted Easter eggs) were classified as fulfilling the provider role. Thus, if only realistic occupations had been noted, perhaps the discrepancy would be even more dramatic."
“Books rarely depict the vast options available to women in both the public and private spheres,” they add.

Absent parents

The researchers were also taken aback by the “sheer absence of parents” in the books.
“Children’s picture books have the potential to be powerful and positive influences on identity acquisition, but with the limited representation of parents, that potential is neglected,” they write. “While children’s book publishing today is a business, and while publishers and authors may realize a giant, talking dog sells more than a strong father-son relationship, strong parental portrayals need to be woven into more plots.”
“These parental portrayals need to reflect active and quality parenting,” the researchers add. “When present in the texts, too many parental characters are mere props in illustration and are not actively involved in the child characters’ lives.”

Important for socialization

Why does the persistence of traditional gender roles in picture books matter? Because, argue DeWitt and her colleagues, other research has clearly shown that books play an important role in socializing children.
“Consistently seeing mothers in the nurturing and care-giving roles and fathers fulfilling the provider role may impress upon children what role performances are ultimately expected of them as men and women,” they conclude. “… If children, especially girls, continue to be exposed to portrayals that suggest opportunities for women are limited to the home, and that men provide, their aspirations and independence will be muted.”
The study was published in the journal Sex Roles.

Nurses talk about caring for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Nurses talk about caring for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

 MO 
Nine trauma nurses at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center were asked to care for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- and though many were uncomfortable with the idea, all of them agreed. The Boston Globe walks us through the six days they spent with Tsarnaev, from the four checkpoints they had to walk through to get to their patient's room, to the guilt some of them feel for having done a good job. They found themselves treating Tsarnaev differently than other patients -- not discussing current events with him, for example -- yet they sometimes stumbled into old habits, with one realizing she called him "hon," for instance.
The Globe notes that the nurses referred to Tsarnaev as a "boy," and while some said they felt no sympathy for him, others were more conflicted:
"You see a hurt 19-year-old and you can't help but feel sorry for him," says one of the nurses. But at the same time, the nurse continues, she "would not be upset if he got the death penalty. There is no way to reconcile the two different feelings."
Though details of Tsarnaev's specific treatment are shielded by privacy laws, during their 12-hour shifts the nurses would have given him typical ICU care: checking wounds, asking about pain, monitoring vitals -- all with FBI agents stationed in the room.
One atypical thing they also did: attended special counseling sessions.
Explains another nurse, "When you step away, you take it in. I am compassionate, that's what we do. But should I be?"

Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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Saturday, July 6, 2013

Playing with the dummies

My granddaughter hanging out with the mannequins.

Virtual Day CNA Class

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Bountiful teen author’s book published



Bountiful teen author’s book published
Confidence • Entering junior has stayed grounded despite her success.
image
Courtesy of Tate Publishing Teen author Nicole Trump of Woods Cross recently published the science-fiction novel, "Infected."
From the time Nicole Trump was a little girl and learned to put words together, she started writing stories.
She loved to write science fiction and stories about vampires, werewolves and witches.
The summer she turned 12, she spent her summer penning a book.
One turned into two, two into three — and a trilogy was born.
In 2012, Nicole began a quest to have her books published. She went online and researched process, and, on her own, she submitted a book query. A week later, much to her delight, she received a reply.
Tate Publishing and Enterprises was interested in her story and wanted to read her manuscript.
Nicole, now 16, just finished her sophomore year at Bountiful High School. She was a student at Millcreek Junior high when her book Infected was published. The book that Nicole describes as “a science fiction thriller with some romantic overtones” tells the story of a handful of people who are frozen in time and saved for a later date, when the Infected may have taken over and humanity will have to be restored. Main character Jo and her fellow companions awaken to a world completely different from the one they have known and are forced to fight to survive.
Nicole, who lives with her three younger brothers and parents in Woods Cross, was surprised when her book was accepted for publication.
“I’ve only met one other teen author,” Nicole said. Tate publishing accepts less than 4% of the submissions it receives.
Since publication, Nicole, who is a full-time student who sings in the choir, performs in school plays and works part-time at Little Caesars’ in Bountiful, has had to make time for book signings. “It’s really nerve-wracking but rewarding to do book signings at 16,” she said.
When she received the initial acceptance of her manuscript, Nicole said both she and her mom cried. “My parents were really happy and impressed,” Nicole said.
Sandy Trump, Nicole’s mother, knew nothing about the publishing process and said she in awe of what Nicole accomplished at such a young age. As Nicole completed each chapter of her book, she would read them to her mother, who was “blown away” by how good it was.
“She’s very creative. I wish my mind worked like hers. She’s always got something going on in there. I keep telling her to reach for the stars, and she keeps doing it,” Trump said.
Being published has changed some aspects of Nicole’s life. Her mother said it has given her more confidence and is something she can be proud of.
Traci Nix, Tate Publishing marketing representative, said Nicole is one of their youngest authors. Most teen authors are 17 or 18 years old. Nix said books are chosen on their marketability.
“The book has done pretty well. It’s a tough industry, and it takes years for a first time author to build up a following.”
After graduation from high school, Nicole plans to attend college and major in psychology with a minor in English literature.
closeup@sltrib.com
Twitter: @sltribDavis

James Gandolfini Likely Ignored 4 Crucial Heart Attack Warning Signs, Says Top Heart Doc

NewsmaxHealth

James Gandolfini Likely Ignored 4 Crucial Heart Attack Warning Signs, Says Top Heart Doc



Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve probably heard about the untimely death of James Gandolfini, who was only 51. “The Sopranos” actor died suddenly last Wednesday while on a trip to Italy with his son. Autopsy results indicate his death was caused by a massive heart attack.

And while Gandolfini may seem young to have suffered such a fate, he was “a heart attack waiting to happen,” according to Dr. Chauncey Crandall, renowned cardiologist and chief of the cardiac transplant program at the prominent Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic.

According to Dr. Crandall, medical editor of the Newsmax publication Heart Health Report, “The bottom line is that he was overweight, probably inactive, and he had multiple risk factors.” Additionally, his vacation eating likely contributed to his sad demise. 

On vacation, Crandall reports, “You eat excessively, indulging in fatty foods, and this causes the blood to thicken. The result is a blood clot, which can rupture, resulting in the blockage of blood flow to the heart, causing heart attack and sudden death.”

This exact situation appears borne out by news sources, which report Gandolfini dined on a final meal that included at least eight servings of alcohol. In addition to the rum and beer, he reportedly consumed two orders of fried prawns along with foie gras, a delicacy made from the liver of a duck or goose that has been purposely fattened.

Whether you’re on vacation or not, according to Dr. Crandall, your body will often warn you of a heart attack days, weeks, even a month before the attack strikes. However, many people fail to recognize or act on these warning signs. Recent research from Duke University Medical School indicates that up to 60% of people fail to recognize they are having a heart attack. And these so-called “silent” heart attacks are associated with a shockingly high risk of death.

To help educate the public about this life-threatening heart health hazard, Dr. Crandall has created a free video presentation detailing four bodily signs in particular — some of the most ominous warnings of unrecognized heart attacks.

 



Heart disease generally starts decades before it is diagnosed, Dr. Crandall said. In fact, many of those over 35 already have the early stages of heart disease without even realizing it.

Each year, about 785,000 Americans suffer a first heart attack. And nearly half a million more suffer a repeat attack.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women. In fact, heart disease kills more people each year than all cancers combined, and is responsible for nearly a third of all deaths.

 

And when it comes to heart attack symptoms, most people think of chest pain, or perhaps pain in the left shoulder or arm. Unfortunately, 25% of all heart attacks happen “silently,” without clear or obvious symptoms. Common symptoms may be mild or seem unrelated to the heart.

Dr. Crandall tells Newsmax Health that heart attacks like the one suffered by TV star Gandolfini are tragically common. “Unfortunately, this was a sad case that had clear warning signs.”

Fortunately, Dr. Crandall has a positive message: Heart disease can be prevented — and even reversed — with the right information and simple lifestyle adjustments. He shares helpful strategies in the video.

 





© 2013 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.

Gross

Sandy man accused in grandmother-in-law's death appears in court
Courts » Man is accused of using golf club to kill his wife’s grandmother.
First Published Jul 03 2013 03:23 pm • Last Updated Jul 03 2013 10:42 pm
The Sandy man accused of beating his grandmother-in-law to death with a golf club walked into a 3rd District courtroom Wednesday afternoon peering into the gallery.
Kevin David Cuillard, 41, opened his eyes wide and scanned the room a familiar face. But no friends called out, no relatives smiled. His wife, the woman who claims she found him bloodied and kneeling over her grandmother’s unmoving body, was not there to wave or meet his searching gaze.
Realizing this, he shook his head slightly and stared down at his chained feet as he stood before the judge during his first court appearance.
Cuillard faces one count of murder, a first-degree felony, which carries up to a life sentence in prison.
He will next appear before Judge Charlene Barlow in a West Jordan courtroom on July 22, according to court documents.
Cuillard was arrested on June 20 after police found Arla "Caroline" Christensen, 85, dead in her bedroom, and Cuillard still in the house with blood on his pants and shirt. On the bed was a metal rod later identified as a golf club with a missing head.
Prosecutors allege Cuillard killed Christensen, his wife’s grandmother, at the house, 10164 S. Bannor Hill Road (1985 East), by beating her with the golf club.
The defendant’s wife, Angela Cuillard, told officers her husband was having a psychotic episode and that Cuillard has a history of "severe mental illness" and had not been sleeping in the days leading up to the alleged crime.
Christensen had moved in with her granddaughter sometime during the past year due to health problems, Sandy police Sgt. Jon Arnold said. She previously lived in Mount Pleasant.

In an interview with Sandy police, Cuillard admitted the blood on his clothing was "grandma’s," according to jail documents.
He also told police that "he had to do what he did to make things better," the jail document says. "In his mind, had he not done it, things would have been worse."