A Model Suggestion and an Application for Nurse Scheduling Problem

Abstract

In the health sector, the hospital management’s main and important problem that they come across is the 24 hour shift planning for the service personnel. With a good shift plan, the personnel’s work load is optimized and their work productivity will be provided and when the monthly shift schedule is prepared, the uncertainty and confusion will be overcome.  In this study, the blood bank centre nurses scheduling problem is taken into hands in a university hospital where the service is given 7 days, 24 hours, and the daily working hours are between 08.⁰⁰-16.⁰⁰ and 16.⁰⁰-08.⁰⁰, and the personnel work 40 hours a week. An optimized complex goal programming model is suggested by taking into consideration the centres working hours and the personnel’s leave situation. The main purpose of this suggested model is to determine how to minimize the deviations of the nurses’ day and night shifts. It has been seen with the application of the model the optimum shift schedule, compared to the previous hospital managements schedule was obtained, workload is more effectively planned, objective planning of the shifts schedule and a balanced work load have achieved.