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Surgical ICU (SICU) Nurse

Post-operative surgical and trauma patients, complex wound and drain management, frequent returns to theatre.

Who these nurses care for

Post-operative surgical and trauma patients, complex wound and drain management, frequent returns to theatre.

What the shift actually looks like

Post-operative surgical and trauma patients who can deteriorate quickly and often return to theatre. Wound, drain and abdominal management take more of the shift than in a medical ICU, and surgical teams round on their own schedule rather than a unified one.

Credentials and certifications

Typically required
BLS, ACLS; CCRN preferred; TNCC valued in trauma centres
Typical ratio
Typically 1:2

What to specify when you send the req

Trauma level designation, surgical services covered, and whether the unit manages open abdomens.

Why this role is hard to fill

Trauma centre experience is not interchangeable with community SICU experience. State the level designation at intake.

What candidates ask before accepting

Answering these in the req itself shortens the process considerably, because they are the questions that otherwise surface at offer stage and cause declines: Trauma level, how often patients go back to theatre, and whether the unit manages open abdomens.

Contract or permanent?

Contract for census swings, leave coverage and seasonal surge. Per diem to protect ratios without expanding core FTE. Permanent when the seat is structural. The expensive mistake is running contract labour for eighteen months on a role that was always permanent.

Licensure

Registered nursing is covered by the Nurse Licensure Compact in most of the country, so a multistate license lets a nurse work across member states without a new application. Thirteen jurisdictions sit outside it — Alaska, California, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands — and in those markets every out-of-state nurse needs a single-state license first. Those are the markets where reqs stay open longest.

How we work this req

Every candidate is spoken to before you see them, with licensure for your state, certifications and unit-specific competency confirmed before submittal. We screen to the credential the unit actually needs rather than the title on the posting. Rates sit inside the ranges on our published cost breakdown.

Common questions

What certifications does a SICU nurse need?

BLS, ACLS; CCRN preferred; TNCC valued in trauma centres.

What is the typical typical ratio in SICU?

Typically 1:2.

Why is SICU hard to fill?

Trauma centre experience is not interchangeable with community SICU experience. State the level designation at intake.

What do candidates ask before accepting a SICU assignment?

Trauma level, how often patients go back to theatre, and whether the unit manages open abdomens.

Other units in Critical & Acute Care

See all nursing specialties or our nursing staffing overview.

Need SICU coverage?

Tell us the ratio, the equipment and the start date, and we will tell you the realistic fill window.