VANurse2010

The best person to answer these questions is your unit director, but in general...
Telemetry and step-down are the same thing in some hospitals, and in others step-down is higher acuity with lower patient:nurse ratios. Step-down may take more and different drips than telemetry and have the ability to titrate, depending on the unit. Some step-downs also take arterial lines and chronic or newly-chronic ventilators. Telemetry typically does not take patients with anything more invasive than IV access and often any cardiac drips are non-titratable in telemetry units. Ratios can go as high as 6:1, maybe more in a really bad hospital.
Either will be a crap storm of admissions and discharges. From my perspective as a critical care nurse (and former telemetry and step-down nurse), those two are the worst! Sometimes very high acuity with lots of admits/discharges and turnover. It's my hell on Earth.