Hospital productivity standards

How many patients per day have you typically seen in a hospital inpatient setting? Some of my previous hospital jobs had a bare minimum of 12 patients every day, and 15-18 patients/day was encouraged. Some days we'd see 22 or 23 patients in an 8-hour work day. TPN's and, of course, tube feeds, were always mixed in, daily.

I've heard of hospitals in rural areas where the RDs are only expected to see 6 to 8 patients per day. But in many cases, hospital upper management eventually takes issue with the RDs seeing that few of patients.

I have a friend whose hospital stopped having a required number of patients per day. What has been your experience?