Kelly Charnas (KC): My name is Kelly Charnas and I am a sexual assault nurse examiner for San Mateo County.
Alexandra Charnas (AC): Where did you go to school?
KC: So I went to University of San Francisco and graduated there in 2000 and then got a job immediately with San Mateo County in the emergency room. And then I went back after a few years to Holy Names University in Oakland and got my master’s in nursing education.
AC: Did you always know you wanted a job in forensic science?
KC: No, actually, I knew I wanted to be a nurse and I knew I liked the emergency room and this job came as a support service for the emergency room.
AC: Do you remember your first case?
KC: So my my journey in this position is is quite unique because I did it when nurses assisted physicians in the emergency room, and then I saw the progression of nurses doing them [exams] independently from physicians. So my first cases done with the physician, I do remember some of them. And then I do remember my first cases solo.
AC: How did it feel when you did your first solo case?
KC: Well, what was interesting was my first solo case was actually two suspects. Whereas that’s extremely rare, usually it’s a patient… at the time, we would call them victims, but now we call them survivors. And so we would do suspect exams, extremely, extremely rare. And so in this case, my first exam solo were suspect exams. So I remember that…because it just stood out as being so unique.
AC: What’s one things you wish people knew either working as a forensic nurse or something else to take away?
KC: You know, it’s quite interesting work, what we do, because a lot of people think, oh, you’re a nurse. You’re either at a doctor’s office or in the hospital. People don’t automatically associate you with law enforcement. And in this case, you know that’s, that’s my role, so I tell people that I’m a forensic nurse with the county, and they’re they, then immediately they go to, oh, you must be doing like death investigations and that thing. So, you know, we’re here. We provide a service for patients who come in, survivors of sexual assault, survivors of domestic violence, elder abuse, child abuse. So we look at the patient holistically, medically and then forensically to help build the case.. for justice [and] for prosecution.
If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic violence, sexual assault or abuse, you are not alone. Visit https://www.rapetraumaservices.org/get-help/helpful-links/san-mateo-county-resources.html to find help in San Mateo County. For those outside the community, visit https://rainn.org/ for support.
