Transfer of Pediatric Patients back to the Unit from PACU

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:confused:for pacu's that care for pediatric patients: who transfers the pediatric pacu patient back to the unit? pacu nurse? peds nurse from the receiving unit? other licensed or unlicensed personnel? about how long is the transport trip from the pacu to the unit? our hospital is in the middle of a re-build, and the or/pacu will be about a 15 minute walk away from the unit. thanks for any information!

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Specializes in PACU, OR.

That's quite a distance. Our paeds ward is one floor up from theater so it takes about 2-3 minutes to get the kiddies up there. However, we don't have a PICU, so any youngsters needing ICU care go to the adult unit, which is on the same floor as theater, and all ICU patients are escorted back to the unit by the PACU RN who recovered the patient.

Normally nurses from the wards come to fetch their own patients, including paeds, but as I mentioned, it's a very short distance. Fifteen minutes is ok as long as you are absolutely sure the kiddie is fully awake and stable, and has had a relatively non-invasive procedure, but it I'd be a bit nervous surrendering a patient into inexperienced hands if there was any risk. Is it at all feasible for PACU to escort their patients back to the wards?

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If they aren't going home all of our patients are returned to their room or the unit via a PACU RN. Same Day Surgery is returned to SDS via a tech.

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