I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the DAISY Award than Miriam Crandall. Not only is Miriam a skilled critical care nurse in the emergency department, but she is also one of the nurse leaders in the SANE Program here at Children’s Mercy Hospital. In her 9 years as a sexual assault nurse, she has spent tens of thousands of hours on call and seen over 800 acute cases of sexual abuse/assault in the emergency room. While the number of children and families that Miriam has served and cared for as a SANE is impressive alone, it is her compassionate care and expert knowledge that makes her so deserving of this award.

During follow-up calls, families often praise Miriam’s care saying that she made a difficult situation as easy as possible. Miriam helps patients have hard conversations with their parents about sensitive topics and takes the time to speak life into patients who just need to feel loved and worthy. I have also been able to witness Miriam talk to parents on the phone multiple times ensuring that their children have appropriate resources after their trauma.

She also has taken the lead in managing the forensic evidence for local law enforcement at both Adele Hall and Children’s Mercy Kansas. Not only does she ensure evidence is getting where it belongs, but she also has built relationships with many departments, which only benefits our patients. She’s quick to volunteer to help with anything. If you want something done, and want it done well, Miriam is the person for the job!

A very difficult part of being a SANE is having to testify in criminal cases. Miriam has easily testified more than anyone in the SANE Program and makes it look easy. She often helps other SANEs prepare for their own cases and invites new SANEs to watch her testify. Although this is a very intimidating part of the job, it is crucial in ensuring our patients get the justice they deserve and that predators are stopped from hurting anyone else.

Recently, Miriam testified in a case where she was called into the emergency department to do Human Trafficking Screenings on 2 sisters who were being sex trafficked. One sister had disclosed sexual abuse, but it was outside of the time limit to collect forensic evidence, meaning a sexual assault exam was not able to be performed. The ED provider wanted to ensure that the patient did not have an acute injury, so Miriam offered to do a quick genital exam with the provider since it was her area of expertise. Miriam’s work was already done, and she could have gone home, but she stayed to do the right thing for the patient. On the exam, Miriam noted a healed injury that supported the disclosure that the patient had made. She documented this well and made sure her findings were reported to law enforcement and child services.

Miriam recently testified on her findings, and the offender was found guilty of two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and one count of second-degree statutory sodomy. He had been previously charged and convicted multiple times but was released from prison. He received a life sentence. Without Miriam’s diligence and willingness to go above and beyond, the injury may have never been seen, and this violent sexual predator could have gone on to assault more children. Her expertise and experience made Miriam’s testimony a crucial part of this guilty verdict.

Miriam’s hard work and dedication to an extremely difficult job deserve to be recognized! There are very few nurses who have worked in this difficult field at Children’s Mercy as long as Miriam has. Her passion to serve this very specific patient population does not go unnoticed, and it’s an honor and pleasure to work alongside her.