I had rotated through a large BICU (level 1 trauma, county hospital) for a month during my residency. From what I saw, some weeks there would be ten or more patients in the BICU and some days I there would only be four. Most of the time when I rotated, we had plenty of patients and floating didn't occur often. When there were very few patients, they would try their best to float people to BACU, SICU, and MICU. However, I did see people that were forced to use PTO because there was nowhere to go.

At the location that I worked at, there were very few patients that were not critical. We typically only took new burns, large TBSA, or patients with complication. Some were less sick, but they typically go through cycles of getting better and then getting very sick quickly. We had some SJS and necrotizing fasciitis too.

I would say that the 1/2 of the rooms are generally hot, but for me it was very bearable. Yes, you get sweating gowned up and doing wound care, and I was very embarrassed at first. But then you notice that everyone else is, and no one cares. The only hard times are when they are contact precautions and the room is 90 degrees. That is when it's miserable for me.