Document and Entity Information (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Dec. 30, 2011	Feb. 03, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document type	10-Q
Document period end date	Dec. 30, 2011
Document fiscal year focus	2012
Document fiscal period focus	Q3
Amendment flag	false
Entity registrant name	PSS WORLD MEDICAL INC
Entity central index key	0000920527
Entity current reporting status	Yes
Entity voluntary filers	No
Current fiscal year end date	--03-30
Entity filer category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity well known seasoned issuer	Yes
Entity common stock shares outstanding		51,280,323
Entity public float			$ 1,018,050,974