Kelli Collison, RN

Kelli Collison is a nurse navigator at Valley View’s Calaway•Young Cancer Center. Previously, she worked in acute care as a shift nurse facilitator, working with her fellow nurses to foster learning and collaboration. In her current role as a nurse navigator at Calaway•Young Cancer Center, she acts as a kind of sherpa for her patients—helping them navigate the complicated health care system and start off their oncological journey on the right foot. “When a new patient comes to us, we make sure their appointments are set up correctly, and that our doctors have everything they need to understand each case,” she explains.

From a young age growing up in northern Minnesota, Kelli knew she wanted to be a nurse. She attended school in Grand Forks, ND where she received her RN and BSN. After that, she pursued her interest in oncology as her career developed, working for four years on an inpatient oncology floor, where she administered chemotherapy and helped cancer patients navigate their illnesses.

“Oncology is different from other medical disciplines because we see our patients much more frequently,” she says, “more frequently than they’d like to be seen, unfortunately. But it does present us an opportunity to forge real connections and help in all kinds of different ways.”

In her spare time, Kelli enjoys the outdoors with her husband and two-year-old daughter. “Being from Minnesota, I really appreciate Colorado’s temperate climate,” she laughs. “We camp, hike, bike—literally every outdoor activity we can try, we do it. Things are a little different now that we have a little