Margie Crandall

Margie Crandall, RN, PhD Pediatrics and Nurse Scientist, UC Davis Medical Center Sacramento, California

From the day Margie Crandall began work at UC Davis, there has been only a standard of excellence. As a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she demonstrates a profound dedication to the care of children and families.   She is equally dedicated to her colleagues who in turn respect her immensely. She is an extraordinary person who is a nationally recognized expert in pediatric pain, pediatric anxiety and family-centered care. Pain management is one of the most central issues related to the care of pediatric patients and Dr. Crandall has dedicated her professional life to clinical care and research in pediatric pain management. Her PhD is from UCSF and her dissertation centered on Pain Management in children. A central focus throughout her research and writings is the improvement of both patient and nursing care. Always with a very focused eye at what occurs at the bedside, Dr. Crandall is the ultimate patient advocate. She is the Chair of the UCD EBP-pediatric pain committee and recently instituted the FLAC pain assessment tool.

There are not enough exemplars to explain Dr. Crandall’s dedication to the promotion of excellent nursing practice. She has mentored both nurses and physicians with the sole goal of improving clinical care at the bedside. Her work to establish Primary Nursing in Pediatrics has set a standard of nursing excellence at the bedside. Patients and their families returning to UCDMC ask to see Margie just to make one more contact with her to say thank you.

In February 2002, she received a Certificate of Honor from the UCD School of Medicine Cleft and Craniofacial program. She has published 7 peer reviewed research articles. She has presented at multiple national and international conferences. In 2007, she and colleagues presented at the Sigma Theta Tau International Congress in Vienna, Austria, a study on Primary Nursing Changing the Health Care Delivery Systems: Total Patient Care to Primary Nursing. In 2005, she presented at the 11th World Congress on Pain her research on Pre-operative pain education for children: Descriptions and outcomes a Qualitative Research Study. She co-authored a chapter in the University of California Davis Dysphagia Team textbook on Pediatric Clinical Feeding Assessment. Her most recent accomplishment is the development and standardization of a numeric situational anxiety tool for children.

She is always in the present, has incredible listening skills and above all would be called a nurse’s nurse.  There simply is none finer.