Kerrie Klepfer, BSN, RN, CNIII, and Jennifer LeBlanc, BSN, RN, CCRN, CNIV, are intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at Duke Raleigh Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. They are two of the four-person nurse team from their ICU that completed the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy. Their team’s project, “Walk this Way: Early Progressive Mobility in the ICU,” saved Duke Raleigh hospital nearly three million dollars, and their recommendations about increased patient mobility in the ICU have become a standard practice of care in their hospital, as well as hospitals around the world. Read on to learn more about the inspiration for their project and insights about their journey through nursing.
These Nurses Had a $2.9 Million Idea

Kerrie Klepfer and Jennifer LeBlanc are intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at Duke Raleigh Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. They are two of the four-person nurse team from their ICU that completed the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy. Their team’s project, “Walk this Way: Early Progressive Mobility in the ICU,” saved Duke Raleigh hospital nearly three million dollars, and their recommendations about increased patient mobility in the ICU have become a standard practice of care in their hospital, as well as hospitals around the world. Read on to learn more about the inspiration for their project and insights about their journey through nursing.
These Nurses Had a $2.9 Million Idea
Kerrie Klepfer and Jennifer LeBlanc are intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at Duke Raleigh Hospital in Raleigh, N.C. They are two of the four-person nurse team from their ICU that completed the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy. Their team’s project, “Walk this Way: Early Progressive Mobility in the ICU,” saved Duke Raleigh hospital nearly three million dollars, and their recommendations about increased patient mobility in the ICU have become a standard practice of care in their hospital, as well as hospitals around the world. Read on to learn more about the inspiration for their project and insights about their journey through nursing.
