Average weekly hours: Average weekly hours worked for a full time Registered Nurse is 35.6 hours Employment by region: The top three regions for employment as a Registered Nurse include: NSW: 31.4%. VIC: 24.0%. QLD: 22.6%.
The severity of the patientâs illness and the intensity of services to be provided should justify the need for an acute level of care. An inpatient admission solely because the patient has been kept in observation status over 23 hours would not be considered medically necessary.
Consequently, hospitals may be utilizing observation status more frequently in response to audits and fear of a lengthy and costly appeals process that may result in loss of the ability to rebill an inpatient claim as observation if the process extends beyond 12 months after patient discharge.