Simulated annealing approach to nurse rostering benchmark and real-world instances

Frederik Knust and Lin Xie ()
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Frederik Knust: Connext Communication GmbH
Lin Xie: Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Annals of Operations Research, 2019, vol. 272, issue 1, No 10, 187-216

Abstract: Abstract The nurse rostering problem, which addresses the task of assigning a given set of activities to nurses without violating any complex rules, has been studied extensively in the last 40 years. However, in a lot of hospitals the schedules are still created manually, as most of the research has not produced methods and software suitable for a practical application. This paper introduces a novel, flexible problem model, which can be categorized as ASBN|RVNTO|PLG. Two solution methods are implemented, including a MIP model to compute good bounds for the test instances and a heuristic method using the simulated annealing algorithm for practical use. Both methods are tested on the available benchmark instances and on the real-world data. The mathematical model and solution methods are integrated into a state-of-the-art duty rostering software, which is primarily used in Germany and Austria.

Keywords: Nurse rostering problem; Flexible model; $$\alpha |\beta |\gamma $$ α | β | γ notation; Simulated annealing; Mixed integer programming; Real-world data; Duty rostering software (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10479-017-2546-8

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