Specialized stroke units are known to provide best care for stroke patients. However in their absence, patients are often shifted to regular intensive care units that are already overburdened. We carried out a retrospective study to identify ischemic stroke patients who can be safely cared outside the intensive care unit (ICU) using National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score as predictor of serious morbidity and mortality. We analyzed 50 ischemic stroke patients with complete records of NIHSS score and well-documented complications, if any, while being nursed in our ICU. The results show that patients having NIHSS score between 0-4 rarely have any complications other than very trivial ones’. These patients can be cared in high dependency units or stroke wards with dedicated trained nursing staff. Furthermore we noted that the patients at maximum risk of serious morbidity and mortality have NIHSS score greater than 15. These patients frequently need ventilatory/ hemodynamic support or management of cerebral edema and elevated ICP and hence justify ICU support.