SICU Patients?

[ccuRN24]

What kind of patients do you get in your SICUs? I've been reading through the site and it seems like each one is a little different and different from the one at my hospital. I'm thinking of requesting SICU as where I would like to be once I complete my new grad program.

Thanks in advance!

[CCU BSN RN]

To determine what kind of patients you will get in a specific SICU, look at these variables: 1. How many/what types of ICUs does your hospital have? and 2. What kinds of surgery does your hospital perform?

In the two hospitals I have worked at, we have had a MICU, a SICU, an a CICU. So all surgical patients requiring an ICU level of care other than cardiac surgery patients would go to SICU (vascular patients, trauma surgery patients, neurosurg patients, and then any other surgery where the patient winds up needing to remain intubated or on inotropic support for any reason).

In a hospital with a Neuro and/or Trauma ICU in addition to a MICU/SICU/CVICU, or any other kinds of specialized ICUs , your patient population will differ because those patients will go to the appropriate ICU.

It is also important to know what types of surgery your hospital does. If you're a bare-bones smaller hospital and just have a MICU/SICU but don't have cardiothoracic surgeons or a vascular lab or neurosurgeons, but rather transfer those patients out, then you're talking more about trauma surgery where the patient was too sick to transport, or routine general surgeries gone wrong in some way.

I'm sure those who work at places with different services offered and a different variety of ICUs will be able to flesh this out a bit more, but that's my $.02

[ccuRN24]

Thank you! Your response was very helpful!!

[marienm, RN, CCRN]

Our SICU (Level 1 Trauma center, teaching hospital) takes surgical patients (Whipples, open abdomens, hepatectomys, some ortho, some ENT, some urology, etc...) as well as trauma patients if head trauma isn't their primary injury (those go to neuro) or a chest injury isn't primary (those go to CVICU) or burn isn't primary (those come to my unit!).

Our hospital doesn't have a lot of step-down beds, so those patients go to ICUs. Some patients are on our SICU for months...the open bellies that keep perfing and meanwhile the patient winds up needing CVVH and gets a trach...and some are only there a couple of days because their blood pressure was soft after surgery and then they transfer to a med/surg unit.

Our hospital also has a MICU, but sometimes they are full. Most of our ICU patients can be placed in any ICU, so we all see different things. (Ventrics, ECMO, LVADS are a few exceptions to this...they can only be on certain units.)

[ccuRN24]

Thank you marienm! My hospital is similar to that.

[CowboyMedic, DNP, APRN, CRNA]

Like the previous poster have said, it all varies depending on the unit. I work on a Med-Surg-Neuro ICU so we have anything and everything. We also have a CVICU and Burn ICU within our facility. We deal a lot with CVA's and hemorrhagic CVA's so we will see a lot of crani's with Ventrics for ICP measurement and drainage.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

My unit is called "SICU" but is mostly cardiothoracic surgical ICU. We get:

- cardiac surgery (VAD, ECMO, CABG, valves, aortic surgery)

- thoracic surgery (VATs, esophagectomies, bronchopleural fistulas)

- vascular surgery (EVAR, TEVAR, bypasses)

- organ transplant surgery: heart, liver, some kidney, pancreas