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Constructing nurse schedules at large hospitals
Author(s) -
Dias Tiago M.,
Ferber Daniel F.,
De Souza Cid C.,
Moura Arnaldo V.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international transactions in operational research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.032
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1475-3995
pISSN - 0969-6016
DOI - 10.1111/1475-3995.00406
Subject(s) - heuristics , computer science , solver , nurse scheduling problem , mathematical optimization , scheduling (production processes) , job shop scheduling , operations research , mathematics , schedule , flow shop scheduling , operating system
Several heuristics, based on evolutive algorithms and local search, are used to solve the nurse scheduling problem at a large hospital. Due to several intricate and specific restrictions imposed on the schedules, the problem is a difficult one to solve by hand. Moreover, some of the restrictions have a subjective value attached to them, and this constrains the use of exact methods that search for global optima. In order to facilitate the use of the solver modules by the hospital staff, a user interface was also implemented.