PACU or ICU?

Results of a survey to the question:
"In your hospital, when there is a non-intubated post-operative patient to go to ICU, where is the patient recovered, in PACU or in ICU"?

1. From Sudbury Regional Hosptial - For our CardioVascularThoracic ICU, we recover all post-op patients that are intubated. However, patients that are not intubated post-op (I.e. lobectomy, pneumonectomy, urology and vascular post-ops) are recovered in PACU.
For our Medical-Surgical ICU they recover all of their own post-op patients whether they are intubated or not.

2. From Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital - The recovery of an ICU non-intubated patient for our facility is done in the ICU. These patients are transferred directly from the OR to the ICU. The decision was made due to the fact that these usually are our sickest patients.

3. From Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital- The non-vented ICU patients has always been a challenge, we have tried to send them directly to ICU but we have met much resistance, even when the patients are intubated we still have difficulty sending the patient to ICU. So currently we still recover the non-vented but we will continue to try to persuade the ICU to accept their patients, it would certainly help with the flow and it would not tie up one of our bay areas because sometimes the ICU staff does not come down to pick up the patient for 2-4 hours.

4. From Grey Bruce Health Services - all ICU patients are recovered directly in ICU whether intubated or non-intubated. ICU recovers all their own patients.

5. From Norfolk General Hospital- patient is recovered in PACU.

6. From KGH and HDH - Normally the patient is recovered in PACU.
* However, after hours, there have been times when:
the PACU RN goes to ICU with the patient and s/he 'recovers' the patient (i.e. airway management etc.) while the rest of the patient's care needs are managed by the ICU RN, or * the PACU RN goes to ICU with the patient and delivers all of the care to the patient.

7. From Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance- The pt goes directly to ICU unless the bed is not available yet.

8. From Cornwall Community Hospital - PACU (unless other reasons exist - hemodynamic monitoring, vasopressive drugs).