I work at a state hospital at the only acute ward. On this ward we also have telemetry pts. On average # of pts range from 3-7, with maybe on or two of those pts. on tele. Most of the tele pts are stable, and if they become unstable they're transferred to a better equipped hospital. My problem is we have no EKG tech. The nurse is assigned up to 5 pts and is also required to "watch" tele. Of course, we can't sit at the station and really watch tele, except when it alarms, etc...even then we sometimes are caught in another pts room and cannot leave imediately to see what tele is doing..All of the RN's here are very concerned. The administration insists that there is no rule, etc. saying tele has to be monitored continously....What can we do...I'm worried personally that some day a pt will code on me, etc. and I wasn't at the monitor to intervene immediately. PLEASE HELP.