A Mathematical Model for the Nurse Rostering Problem Considering Multiple Units within the Brazilian labor context

This article investigates the Nurse Rostering Problem considering Multiple Units (NRMPU) within the Brazilian labor legislation. The NRPMU aims to determine work schedules for vast nursing teams, improving resource utilization by allowing some nurses to work in multiple units. Nurses are assigned to a home unit and, according to the availability of nursing personnel and patient demand variations, they can be assigned to alternative units. This study is conducted in partnership with the Pediatric Department of the University Hospital of São Carlos, Brazil (UH-UFSCar). We propose an integer programming optimization model for this Pediatric Department, which consists of three units and over seventy staff members. The proposed model is analyzed through computational experiments using instances that are based on  real scenarios at UH-UFSCar.