ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Chirurgia 2019 April;32(2):77-83

DOI: 10.23736/S0394-9508.18.04847-7

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Modeling nurse shift scheduling in terms of economic objectives, ergonomic criteria, and different work contracts

Hamidreza ZAHEDI ¹, Salman BARASTEH ² ✉, Mohsen ABBASI FARAJZADEH ³, Ali A. ESFAHANI ³

¹ Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Engineering, University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran; ² Faculty of Nursing, Marine Medicine Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; ³ Marine Medicine Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

BACKGROUND: Nurses have shift works due to their job nature, who different working hours on weekdays can endanger the physical and mental health of them. Therefore, the scheduling of nurses’ shift works is necessary in order to reduce of the problems. The present study was designed a model for nursing staff shifting with different levels of specialization and different work contracts, in which ergonomic criteria, demanded staff shifts and cost parameters are considered.
METHODS: In this research, all nursing staff including nurses, orderlies and secretaries (21 persons) working in the orthopedics department of Baqiyatollah Hospital in Tehran were enrolled. Using interviews with nursing experts, experts in clinical governance and staffing, as well as staff responsiveness to the MEQ (Circadian Rhythms) the collected data is converted into a model. Finally, the final model is implemented by GAMS software and finally, the program of shift work of all personnel is presented according to ergonomic criteria, demanded staff shifts, hospital requirements and cost parameter.
RESULTS: A shift work plan was designed for each nurse. The value of the objective function of 32371.2 indicates that the designed model is very close to the ideal model. The proposed shift work program can improve the efficiency and satisfaction of nurses and reduce the effects of disorders of shift work.
CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals can reduce the scheduling problem by planning human resources and optimizing the use of labor, time and cost while increasing efficiency. The health care systems involve many complicated problems that the analysis and applications of operations research can be used to solve them.

KEY WORDS: Shift work schedule - Nurses - Hospitals