Nurse Nancy Remembers

Nov-03-2020

Employees

After a lengthy career at Imagine!, Nancy DeKlyn is moving on from Imagine! with a heart full of great memories, and an even fuller list of accomplishments. While many of you may remember Nancy from her recent stints working at the front desk at our Coal Creek office, or her part time work in Imagine!’s Community & Employment Services, you may not be aware that the majority of her career at Imagine! was spent as a nurse working with individuals in our services.

That career path began in the mid-1980s, when, after seven years of working in hospitals as a nurse and looking for something new, Nancy began working at Chestor House in Boulder. Local I/DD history buffs will recall that a group of parents of children with autism, along with the Colorado Chapter of the Autism Society of America, established Chestor House in 1982 as a single group home housing eight people with disabilities, a truly pioneering effort in integrating people with I/DD into their communities.

Her work at Chestor House attracted the attention of John Taylor, who was CEO at the time of The Developmental Disabilities Center (later renamed, you guessed it, Imagine!). John offered Nancy the job of Director of Nursing for our organization in 1989. “I joke that my title was really ‘Director of Nurse,’ Nancy says, “because I was the only one.”

Nancy credits John Taylor with giving her the freedom to develop her position as she saw fit, but we should all give her the credit for her role in transforming medical services for people with I/DD in our community. “At the time, there were almost no doctors in Boulder who were willing to serve people with I/DD,” Nancy says, the shock and anger evident in her voice even after 30 years. “I was determined that the people we serve could get the high quality medical care and choice they so deserved.”

So Nancy went on the offensive, speaking to doctors and medical staff all over town, hosting discussion panels, and offering trainings on how best to serve this population. She blazed her own trail while doing so, enjoying a number of “firsts” along the way. She was in the very first class of nurses to become Certified Developmental Disabilities Nurses in the United States, and wrote the first Standard of Care Manual for this population. She was also a founding member of the Colorado Association of Nurses for the Developmentally Disabled (CANDD).

Nancy’s efforts were very successful, and she looks back on them with a combination of joy and awe. “I lived to see the day that people with I/DD were able to access quality medical services,” she says. And she saw much more. “I saw people who came out of the institutions, who I never thought would be able to be part of the community, in a few short years turning into valuable and contributing members of their communities. I even saw a change in community members themselves, going from where they wouldn’t even acknowledge the people we serve to a community where people with I/DD are welcomed and respected.”
 
Like all careers, Nancy’s had some ups and downs, but she wouldn’t change any of it. “I lucked into one of the most amazing experiences I could have ever wanted. The people we serve are teachers, and I learned so much more from them then they did from me.”

Well, Nancy, we learned a lot from you! Your career at Imagine! demonstrates that dedication, compassion, hard work, and an unwavering belief in the potential of all can have a transformative effect on an entire community.

Thank you, Nancy, for all you have done for Imagine! and the people we serve.

 

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