Staff Rosters Research Articles

Solvi: A visual constraint modeling tool

Discrete constraint problems surface often in everyday life. Teachers might group students with complex considerations and hospital administrators need to produce staff rosters. Constraint programming (CP) provides techniques to efficiently find solutions. However, there remains a key challenge: these techniques are still largely inaccessible because expressing constraint problems requires sophisticated programming and logic skills. In this work we contribute a language and tool that leverage knowledge of how non-experts conceptualize problems to facilitate the expression of constraint models. Additionally, we report the results of a study surveying the advantages and remaining challenges towards making CP accessible to the wider public.

Nursing staff composition and its influence on seclusion in an adult forensic mental health inpatient setting: The truth about numbers

IntroductionResearch on the influence of nursing staff composition and use of seclusion in the forensic mental health inpatient settings is sparse. Nursing staff composition refers to staffing levels, roles, gender ratio and skill mix of the ward teams. Internationally, the rates of seclusion in some forensic mental health inpatient settings have increased over the past 10 years despite global efforts to reduce and eliminate its use. AimTo examine whether the use of seclusion in a forensic mental health inpatient setting can be attributed to staffing composition or to contextual factors such as day of the week, month or other clinical factors. MethodRetrospective data collection was conducted using seclusion data, daily ward reports and staff rosters. Data were collected for all shifts in the hospital over a six-month period. ResultsThree staffing variables were identified as having an influence on the use of seclusion: the number of registered nurses on duty, the presence of the shift coordinator and having a lead nurse on shift. DiscussionSenior nurse oversight and guidance are important factors in assisting staff to identify clinical deterioration and intervene early which may assist services reduce the use of seclusion. Implications for practiceAs staffing levels and composition are modifiable, the results of this study may assist nurse leaders to consider workforce improvements to reduce seclusion use.

Quantifying and enforcing robustness in staff rostering

Employee absences are inevitable in practice due to illness, heavy workloads or accidents. These unforeseen events result in the disruption of employee shift rosters, which are then typically repaired using re-rostering methods. Despite their widespread use, repair methods often require last-minute changes to rosters, negatively affecting employees’ personal lives. Robust rosters are thus crucial when it comes to minimizing the negative impact of these unforeseen events. The academic literature, however, currently lacks a metric capable of measuring the robustness of staff rosters. This study introduces two complementary approaches for quantifying roster robustness without the use of simulation. The first metric enables an a priori estimation of how well unexpected employee absences can be accommodated, while the second metric approximates the costs incurred by repair methods. An integer programming-based methodology is proposed for generating robust rosters in a controlled manner. A computational study using public instances based on real-world scenarios demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. A significant reduction of costs is observed when enforcing an appropriate level of robustness, compared against when robustness is ignored.

Mädchenerziehung und Mission, Die Töchterpension der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Montmirail im 18. Jahrhundert

Sara Aebi's book, Mädchenerziehung und Mission, Die Töchterpension der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Montmirail im 18. Jahrhundert (2016), is based on her doctoral dissertation in education. The four chapters of the study explore the girls’ boarding school in Montmirail in Switzerland by contextualizing the school and its educational practices from two perspectives: it traces the relationships of the school to the national and global Moravian church, and it compares the educational institution of Montmirail to a host of non-Moravian boarding schools for girls in Switzerland. Aebi asks, “What role did the Moravian boarding school for girls in Montmirail play to the Moravian church in Switzerland?” and “what was the importance of the school as an educational institution [Bildungsinstitution] in Switzerland?”Building on Reinhart Koselleck's argumentation and drawing on Charles Tilly's approach in historical comparison, Aebi's theoretical framework and methodology merge source analysis with a comparative approach (27). She does not provide any critical discussion of her chosen method. The sources, mainly from the Moravian Archives in Herrnhut, consist of printed and manuscript documents about the Moravian Church and its educational operations in relation to schools in Switzerland. Aebi's selection of documents shed light on the mission of the school, its implementation, and individual voices of the pupils, staff, and parents expressed in memoirs and letters. In addition, the study draws on a careful analysis of pupil and staff rosters. Aebi has also made use of published records and the minutes of several public schools.The result is a compelling contribution to the history of the Moravian girls’ education in Switzerland. The author gives a multifaceted description of the girls’ boarding school in Montmirail and shows that by establishing an informal network among girls the school strengthened the role of the Moravian Church in Switzerland. Pedagogically the school in Montmirail was hardly different from other schools of its kind in Switzerland. However, a considerable difference between non-Moravian schools and the boarding school in Montmirail was confessionalism, its missionary educational mission (254). This is also one of the main foci of Aebi's study. In more than 100 pages she investigates three themes of Montmirail's mission. First, Aebi explores the nurturing of the tradition (Bewahrung) by problematizing the continued efforts to nurture the distinction between sacred and secular. The second theme of the mission was religious education that focused on the cultivation of the Christian gospel and Moravian spirituality. In the third theme of her study, Aebi probes the daily lives and practices of the staff. She points out that all staff, not only teachers, were involved in the implementation of the pedagogic mission of the school to support the girls’ religious fostering and learning.Aebi's study draws on the ongoing historical research into the educational practices and schools of the Moravian Church. The study is important in both making possible comparisons between Moravian and non-Moravian school systems and mapping schooling within the Moravian Church. Specifically, to studies of Moravian schools in other countries where the Moravian Church existed under similar administrative conditions as in Switzerland—like in Sweden—the contribution of the present study is important. Finally, besides making comparison to other schools in historical context possible, Aebi's study can be regarded as a contribution to contemporary discussion about the relationship between confessions and schools.

E-Roster policy: Insights and implications of codifying nurse scheduling.

Following a decade of dissemination, particularly within the British National Health Service, electronic rostering systems were recently endorsed within the Carter Review. However, electronic rostering necessitates the formal codification of the roster process. This research investigates that codification through the lens of the 'Roster Policy', a formal document specifying the rules and procedures used to prepare staff rosters. This study is based upon analysis of 27 publicly available policies, each approved within a 4-year period from January 2010 to July 2014. This research finds that, at an executive level, codified knowledge is used as a proxy for the common language and experience otherwise acquired on a ward through everyday interaction, while at ward level, the nurse rostering problem continues to resist all efforts at simplification. Ultimately, it is imperative that executives recognise that electronic rostering is not a silver bullet and that information from such systems requires careful interpretation and circumspection.

Reviewing a Homeless Program in Tasmania

The aim of the Oakleigh Accommodation Service (Oakleigh) review, undertaken in late 2013, was to analyse service activities, including staff work hours, rosters and client episodes, to inform recommendations on how to improve the crisis and transitional accommodation service delivered to people who were homeless, at risk of homelessness, or escaping domestic violence. To achieve this aim internal evaluators collected feedback from staff, clients and external stakeholders to evaluate the homeless program's performance, and identify any program issues, opportunities, challenges and gaps in service delivery. This review also compared the Oakleigh staff roster, work hours and client episodes with another Salvation Army homeless program McCombe House (McCombe). The review found that the staff, external stakeholders and clients were generally very satisfied with the Oakleigh service, which they regard as both valuable and worthwhile. However, the review identified areas needing improvement in terms of teamwork, program planning, vehicle usage, access to tenancy information and after-care support. A key recommendation was the redrafting of the staff roster to achieve consistency across the two sites, Oakleigh and McCombe, to enhance the delivery of emergency accommodation for clients.

Factors Underlying Ebola Virus Infection Among Health Workers, Kenema, Sierra Leone, 2014-2015.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) in health workers (HWs) has been a major challenge during the 2014-2015 outbreak. We examined factors associated with Ebola virus exposure and mortality in HWs in Kenema District, Sierra Leone. We analyzed data from the Sierra Leone National Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Database, contact tracing records, Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) staff and Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) rosters, and burial logs. From May 2014 through January 2015, 600 cases of EVD originated in Kenema District, including 92 (15%) HWs, 66 (72%) of whom worked at KGH. Among KGH medical staff and international volunteers, 18 of 62 (29%) who worked in the ETU developed EVD, compared with 48 of 83 (58%) who worked elsewhere in the hospital. Thirteen percent of HWs with EVD reported contact with EVD patients, while 27% reported contact with other infected HWs. The number of HW EVD cases at KGH declined roughly 1 month after implementation of a new triage system at KGH and the opening of a second ETU within the district. The case fatality ratio for HWs and non-HWs with EVD was 69% and 74%, respectively. The cluster of HW EVD cases in Kenema District is one of the largest ever reported. Most HWs with EVD had potential virus exposure both inside and outside of hospitals. Prevention measures for HWs must address a spectrum of infection risks in both formal and informal care settings as well as in the community.

Analysis of the integration of the physician rostering problem and the surgery scheduling problem.

In this paper, we present the Integrated Physician and Surgery Scheduling Problem (IPSSP) as a new approach for solving operating room scheduling problems where staff rosters for the physicians are integrated in the optimization. A mixed integer linear programming formulation is created based on the most frequently observed objective and restrictions of the surgery scheduling and the physician rostering problem in the literature. We analyze schedules by relaxing both surgery and physician related constraints. We then measure the implications of setting these physician preferences on the surgery schedule. Our experiments show two main interesting insights for physician roster schedulers as well as operating theatre scheduling managers.

Energy‐water efficiency and U.S. industrial steam

S team systems are a ubiquitous element in nearly every type of manufacturing plant. In the United States, steam systems are the single largest consumer of energy in the industrial sector, where they account for 37% of annual onsite energy use. Steam use is particularly prominent in the chemicals, paper, petroleum refining, and food and beverage industries, where it is used in a wide range of processes, including reforming, distillation, concentration, cooking, and drying. Together, these four industries comprise nearly 90% of U.S. industrial steam demand, with chemicals manufacturing (30%) and paper manufacturing (30%) holding the largest shares. At the national level, industrial steam systems account for around 6% of U.S. total primary energy use, or 5,900 trillion British thermal units (TBtu). As such, much attention has been paid to steam system energy efficiency improvements as part of corporate, utility, and government energy and air pollution initiatives. Key incentives include local utility rebates, tax incentives, and lowor no-cost steam system energy efficiency audits. Steam system energy efficiency not only makes sense from an environmental perspective, but also from an economic perspective. As of 2006, U.S. manufacturers spent $21 billion on externally purchased boiler fuels. The actual price tag of industrial steam is likely much higher; nearly one-half of U.S. boiler fuels are self-generated within plants in the form of waste gas, black liquor, wood wastes, and other byproducts. These byproduct fuels are not free, as they are generated from purchased materials and typically require further processing for efficient combustion. Reducing demand for boiler fuels can, therefore, help reduce operating costs and improve profit margins. While clearly justified, the historical focus on reducing energy use has overlooked an increasingly compelling benefit of steam system efficiency: namely, reduced water use. Compared to the many public and private incentives for industrial energy efficiency, there are surprisingly few external incentives for industrial water efficiency. One key barrier to such incentives is the lack of credible data on industrial water use, which, unlike data on energy use, are not compiled at the manufacturing industry or process level in regular national surveys. This dearth of data contributes to a general lack of awareness of the sources and scale of industrial water use within the engineering and policy communities, which limits broader attention to water efficiency beyond the plant floor. Another barrier to steam system water efficiency is that the cost of boiler water—and the associated chemicals required for its treatment—typically only represents a small fraction of boiler operating costs, which are dominated by the costs of fuel. However, as we discuss in this Perspective, U.S. industrial steam systems consume copious amount of water. It follows that steam systems are worth a closer look as a manufacturing water efficiency target. Several current trends suggest that water efficiency will play an increasingly prominent role in the financial and sustainability plans of U.S. manufacturers. Recent water stress due to droughts and rising water infrastructure costs have led to increased public water rates around the country. These conditions may worsen with a changing climate. An increasing number of manufacturers are reporting water use as an important environmental indicator in annual corporate sustainability reports, which raises both public awareness of and accountability for water efficiency. Many manufacturers are also being asked by their corporate customers for environmental “footprint” data as part of large-scale sustainable Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to E. Masanet at eric.masanet@northwestern.edu; M.E. Walker at mwalker9@hawk.iit.edu.

A tabu search algorithm applied to the staffing roster problem of Leicestershire police force

This paper presents an application of the tabu search algorithm to a staff rostering problem relevant to Leicestershire Police. The aim is to address the issue of structuring staff rosters to enable effective use of staff to meet the demand on the Police to reduce and deal with crime-related incidents. This problem is defined through the compilation of a time-varying level of required staff and an associated staff roster. The objective is an optimised work set-up, maximising staff resources and the meeting of demand. Optimisation of staff levels to demand is sought through use of a series of tabu search algorithms, making use of two diversification techniques and an intensification technique individually and in compilation. The tabu search is shown to be a well-suited optimisation approach to the type of problem defined, with individual conclusions drawn for each of the technique combinations used.

Infection control of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in hospitals — a logistic challenge

Clinical record On 1 June 2009, a 79-year-old man presented to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Melbourne with a 1-week history of dyspnoea and a productive cough. He had underlying chronic obstructive airways disease (COAD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. He reported no history of fever and no recent travel or contact with people with influenza-like illness (ILI). On examination, his temperature was 37.0°C, oxygen saturation was 97% in room air, and he had an expiratory wheeze. No abnormalities were seen on chest x-ray. Full blood examination showed a peripheral white cell count within the reference range (RR), and a raised C-reactive protein level (27 mg/L; RR, < 5 mg/L). The patient was admitted to a four-bed hospital ward and treated with oral doxycycline, corticosteroids and nebulised salbutamol. A nasal swab was sent to the state reference laboratory for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for respiratory viruses to identify any potential viral precipitant for the apparent exacerbation of COAD. Results received 2 days later were positive for influenza A virus, which was confirmed to be the pandemic (H1 N1 ) 2009 strain. Treatment was then begun with oseltamivir, and the patient was placed in a single room with droplet precautions. The patient's contacts within the hospital were traced through review of his bed movements and all staff rosters (medical, nursing, allied health, patient support services and clerical staff of the emergency department and wards). All health care workers who had come into contact with the patient were telephoned, and the extent of their contact and individual risk factors were assessed. High-risk contact was defined as having spent more than 15 minutes within 1 m of the patient without wearing appropriate personal protective equipment. Twenty-one people with high-risk contact were identified, comprising nine medical staff, six nurses, three allied health staff and three patients. All were given oseltamivir prophylaxis. By this time (2 days after the patient's admission), three of the medical staff who had high-risk contact with the patient (eg, taking a history or examining the patient while he was receiving nebulised therapy) reported the new onset of an ILI. They were therefore given treatment doses of oseltamivir. Furthermore, one of these medical staff reported having had significant contact, while symptomatic, with nine medical registrars during a 1-hour radiology tutorial in a confined space. At that stage of the pandemic, the reference laboratory was testing a high volume of specimens for H1 N1 2009 influenza, and the average time for results of specific tests to be returned was, in our experience, 2 working days. Consequently, we decided to assume that the three medical staff with ILI had pandemic 2009 influenza and to initiate a second round of contact tracing. This included contacting all patients and health care workers who had come into contact with any of these staff. We identified a further 17 medical staff and seven patients and offered them oseltamivir prophylaxis. All accepted this prophylaxis. Symptomatic staff were asked to stay home from work, but it was considered impractical to redeploy asymptomatic health care workers receiving prophylaxis to areas with less patient contact. The evaluation of exposed health care workers and dispensing of medication were conducted by infection control practitioners, infectious diseases staff and microbiology staff, in addition to their normal duties. The extra workload was estimated to be almost 2 full days for at least two staff members. Four days later, the swab results from the three symptomatic medical staff showed they were negative for influenza A, and prophylaxis for their contacts was ceased. None of the other 18 people who had significant contact with the index patient developed ILI.

Editorial: Bring back the veil!

Editorial: Bring back the veil!

The MoLIE project: Enhancing capacity for intern training in the Emergency Department

Introduction: Increasing the number of medical graduates hascreated a challenge for early postgraduate training capacity. AnEmergency Department (ED) term is a core requirement to completethe intern year in Queensland. There is concern that increasingintern numbers in the ED will result in a dilution of their learningexperience, plus a decrease in ED efficiency and safety.Aim: To redesign the emergency medicine learning model forinterns with increased numbers, while maintaining safe clinicalsupervision and an improved educational quality.Methods: A structured learning component comprisingapproximately 20% of rostered intern work hours was included inthe ED term. Sessions covered a case-based curriculum developedand delivered by FACEMs in a small-group learning format. Seniorand junior staff rosters were modified to minimise fluctuations injunior staff numbers ‘on the floor’ from participation in structuredteaching sessions. Participating interns completed feedback surveysat the end of each ED term.Results: Intern numbers were able to be increased 38% from 65 in2007 to 90 in 2008, whilst maintaining unchanged junior staffsupervision ratios in the ED clinical area. Interns reported that theMore Learning in Emergency (MoLIE) teaching sessions wererelevant to their work, and covered the right balance of clinical andprofessional skills. There were high levels of satisfaction withfacilitators’ knowledge and teaching skills. After MoLIE a majorityof interns felt they were more likely to choose emergency medicineas a career.Conclusion: Increased intern numbers represents an opportunity toredesign and improve junior doctor education.

Injuries and Assaults in a Long-Term Psychiatric Care Facility: An Epidemiologic Study

The objectives of this study were to document the high rates of acute injuries and physical assaults among nurses and certified nursing assistants working in long-term psychiatric care facilities and to identify risk factors for assaults and injuries to inform prevention strategies. A mixed-design cohort study was conducted. Acute injury and physical assault data were obtained from administrative records. Using staff rosters and schedule records, incidence rates were calculated by job title, gender, shift, and floor. Rates were also reported by severity, body part, type, and nature. Targeted interviews with staff members provided measures of physical lifting and resident combativeness. Injury rates were calculated by degree of lifting and assault rates were calculated by degree of resident combativeness. Overall rates of injuries (55.6 per 100 person-years) and assaults (67.3 per 100 person-years) were substantially higher than expected. Predictably, injuries were associated with resident lifting and assaults were associated with contact with combative residents. A higher risk of assault was found among women and higher risks of injury and assault were observed among full-time employees compared to per diem or pool agency workers. In addition, weekend shifts were found to have a higher rate of injuries and a lower rate of assaults than weekday shifts. In similar long-term care facilities with psychiatric populations, efforts should be made to reduce lifting and avoid circumstances that agitate residents. Work organization factors should be taken into consideration when developing interventions.

Australian Sugar Mills Optimise Siding Rosters to Increase Profitability

Increasing cost/price ratios in sugarcane production and the pressure to remain internationally competitive have forced Australian sugar mills to reduce capital and operational costs. Increased utilisation of transport infrastructure through improved rostering of harvesting groups into sugarcane rail and road sidings provides an opportunity to reduce transport and harvesting costs. Generating and maintaining siding rosters manually also requires high labour costs because of the time-consuming effort to simultaneously balance limited capacities in the transportation facilities with costs of harvester movements as well as the social considerations of equity between growers. To address this complex socio-economic issue, participatory research was undertaken with a large sugar milling company in Australia to implement siding rosters that were optimised using a tabu search. This resulted in an original adoption of staff rosters produced using operations research techniques, which substantially reduced the up-front and on-going labour costs of planning and maintaining an effective roster throughout the 2002 harvest season.

Using Genetic Algorithms on a PC to Compile Staff Rosters

Aim: We aimed to develop an automated staff rostering system for pharmacy staff working on Saturday rotations that was fair to all concerned, required minimal input and was simple to modify as needs changed.Method: The roster was prepared on a 33 MHz 486 IBM personal computer (PC) in the spreadsheet package Microsoft Excel v4, using Evolver 2.0, the genetic algorithm add‐on for Excel.Results: A staff roster was prepared in the form of a spreadsheet that could be adjusted to meet the constraints of annual leave, rostered days off and many more variables. The genetic algorithm software, linked to the spreadsheet, automatically produced an acceptable roster with no timetable clashes.Conclusion: Pharmacy staff favour the new system since many variables can be assessed with little manual input. A workable roster that is fair and equitable can be easily obtained.

Staffing Rosters with Breaks — A Case Study

A complex manual rostering system for directory assistance, telephone operators has been rationalized and the technique of integer programming used to automatically generate staff rosters. These rosters can be generated by relatively unskilled clerical staff. They result in operator costs comparable to manually generated rosters and can be produced in a fraction of the time taken to produce their manual counterparts. Implementation is reported.