A framework for a practical nurse scheduling approach: A case of operating room of a hospital in thailand

Abstract

Nurse Schedule Problem (NSP) is the assignment of nurses to fulfill hospitals operational goal and regulations. The major aim of NSP is to minimize the total cost, maximizing nurse’s satisfaction, or maintain balanced distribution among preferable assignments and workloads. This paper is the preliminary research in development of NSP for a case of an operating room at a private hospital in Pathumthani, Thailand. An interview with the head nurse was conducted to capture insights and emerging issues that the head nurse wants to resolve. Then, a framework is proposed as a guideline for the development stochastic optimization model to tackle uncertainties in patients’ arrival and surgery duration which are the main concerns. This paper aims to serve as a fundamental stage for a further case based NSP development research.