IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/annopr/v218y2014i1p185-19910.1007-s10479-012-1235-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A variable neighborhood search based matheuristic for nurse rostering problems

Author

Listed:
  • Federico Della Croce
  • Fabio Salassa

Abstract

A practical nurse rostering problem, which arises at a ward of an Italian private hospital, is considered. In this problem, it is required each month to assign shifts to the nursing staff subject to various requirements. A matheuristic approach is introduced, based on a set of neighborhoods iteratively searched by a commercial integer programming solver within a defined global time limit, relying on a starting solution generated by the solver running on the general integer programming formulation of the problem. Generally speaking, a matheuristic algorithm is a heuristic algorithm that uses non trivial optimization and mathematical programming tools to explore the solutions space with the aim of analyzing large scale neighborhoods. Randomly generated instances, based on the considered nurse rostering problem, were solved and solutions computed by the proposed procedure are compared to the solutions achieved by pure solvers within the same time limit. The results show that the proposed solution approach outperforms the solvers in terms of solution quality. The proposed approach has also been tested on the well known Nurse Rostering Competition instances where several new best results were reached. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Della Croce & Fabio Salassa, 2014. "A variable neighborhood search based matheuristic for nurse rostering problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 218(1), pages 185-199, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:218:y:2014:i:1:p:185-199:10.1007/s10479-012-1235-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10479-012-1235-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10479-012-1235-x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10479-012-1235-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burke, Edmund K. & Li, Jingpeng & Qu, Rong, 2010. "A hybrid model of integer programming and variable neighbourhood search for highly-constrained nurse rostering problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(2), pages 484-493, June.
    2. E K Burke & T Curtois & R Qu & G Vanden Berghe, 2010. "A scatter search methodology for the nurse rostering problem," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(11), pages 1667-1679, November.
    3. Hansen, Pierre & Mladenovic, Nenad, 2001. "Variable neighborhood search: Principles and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 449-467, May.
    4. Bellanti, F. & Carello, G. & Della Croce, F. & Tadei, R., 2004. "A greedy-based neighborhood search approach to a nurse rostering problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(1), pages 28-40, February.
    5. Cheang, B. & Li, H. & Lim, A. & Rodrigues, B., 2003. "Nurse rostering problems--a bibliographic survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(3), pages 447-460, December.
    6. D. Michael Warner, 1976. "Scheduling Nursing Personnel According to Nursing Preference: A Mathematical Programming Approach," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 842-856, October.
    7. Ernst, A. T. & Jiang, H. & Krishnamoorthy, M. & Sier, D., 2004. "Staff scheduling and rostering: A review of applications, methods and models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(1), pages 3-27, February.
    8. B. Maenhout & M. Vanhoucke, 2005. "An Electromagnetic Meta-Heuristic for the Nurse Scheduling Problem," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 05/316, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    9. A.T. Ernst & H. Jiang & M. Krishnamoorthy & B. Owens & D. Sier, 2004. "An Annotated Bibliography of Personnel Scheduling and Rostering," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 21-144, March.
    10. Holmes E. Miller & William P. Pierskalla & Gustave J. Rath, 1976. "Nurse Scheduling Using Mathematical Programming," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 857-870, October.
    11. Lü, Zhipeng & Hao, Jin-Kao, 2012. "Adaptive neighborhood search for nurse rostering," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 218(3), pages 865-876.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Coindreau, Marc-Antoine & Gallay, Olivier & Zufferey, Nicolas & Laporte, Gilbert, 2021. "Inbound and outbound flow integration for cross-docking operations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(3), pages 1153-1163.
    2. Anselmo Ramalho Pitombeira-Neto & Bruno de Athayde Prata, 2020. "A matheuristic algorithm for the one-dimensional cutting stock and scheduling problem with heterogeneous orders," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 28(1), pages 178-192, April.
    3. Turhan, Aykut Melih & Bilgen, Bilge, 2022. "A mat-heuristic based solution approach for an extended nurse rostering problem with skills and units," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    4. Doi, Tsubasa & Nishi, Tatsushi & Voß, Stefan, 2018. "Two-level decomposition-based matheuristic for airline crew rostering problems with fair working time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(2), pages 428-438.
    5. Guo, Peng & Weidinger, Felix & Boysen, Nils, 2019. "Parallel machine scheduling with job synchronization to enable efficient material flows in hub terminals," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 110-121.
    6. Sara Ceschia & Nguyen Dang & Patrick Causmaecker & Stefaan Haspeslagh & Andrea Schaerf, 2019. "The Second International Nurse Rostering Competition," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 274(1), pages 171-186, March.
    7. Rahimian, Erfan & Akartunalı, Kerem & Levine, John, 2017. "A hybrid Integer Programming and Variable Neighbourhood Search algorithm to solve Nurse Rostering Problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 411-423.
    8. Douglas S. Altner & Erica K. Mason & Les D. Servi, 2019. "Two-stage stochastic days-off scheduling of multi-skilled analysts with training options," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 111-129, July.
    9. Gülcin Ermis & Can Akkan, 2019. "Search algorithms for improving the pareto front in a timetabling problem with a solution network-based robustness measure," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 275(1), pages 101-121, April.
    10. Toni I. Wickert & Alberto F. Kummer Neto & Márcio M. Boniatti & Luciana S. Buriol, 2021. "An integer programming approach for the physician rostering problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 302(2), pages 363-390, July.
    11. Aringhieri, Roberto & Duma, Davide & Landa, Paolo & Mancini, Simona, 2022. "Combining workload balance and patient priority maximisation in operating room planning through hierarchical multi-objective optimisation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 298(2), pages 627-643.
    12. Olivera Janković & Stefan Mišković & Zorica Stanimirović & Raca Todosijević, 2017. "Novel formulations and VNS-based heuristics for single and multiple allocation p-hub maximal covering problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 259(1), pages 191-216, December.
    13. Marco Ghirardi & Fabio Salassa, 2022. "A simple and effective algorithm for the maximum happy vertices problem," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 30(1), pages 181-193, April.
    14. Sara Ceschia & Rosita Guido & Andrea Schaerf, 2020. "Solving the static INRC-II nurse rostering problem by simulated annealing based on large neighborhoods," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 288(1), pages 95-113, May.
    15. Tom Rihm & Philipp Baumann, 2018. "Staff assignment with lexicographically ordered acceptance levels," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 167-189, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Broos Maenhout & Mario Vanhoucke, 2008. "Comparison and hybridization of crossover operators for the nurse scheduling problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 333-353, March.
    2. Van den Bergh, Jorne & Beliën, Jeroen & De Bruecker, Philippe & Demeulemeester, Erik & De Boeck, Liesje, 2013. "Personnel scheduling: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(3), pages 367-385.
    3. Vanhoucke, Mario & Maenhout, Broos, 2009. "On the characterization and generation of nurse scheduling problem instances," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 196(2), pages 457-467, July.
    4. Burke, Edmund K. & Curtois, Tim, 2014. "New approaches to nurse rostering benchmark instances," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(1), pages 71-81.
    5. Rahimian, Erfan & Akartunalı, Kerem & Levine, John, 2017. "A hybrid Integer Programming and Variable Neighbourhood Search algorithm to solve Nurse Rostering Problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 411-423.
    6. Edmund K. Burke & Timothy Curtois & Rong Qu & Greet Vanden Berghe, 2013. "A Time Predefined Variable Depth Search for Nurse Rostering," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 411-419, August.
    7. Lin, Shih-Wei & Ying, Kuo-Ching, 2014. "Minimizing shifts for personnel task scheduling problems: A three-phase algorithm," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(1), pages 323-334.
    8. Valouxis, Christos & Gogos, Christos & Goulas, George & Alefragis, Panayiotis & Housos, Efthymios, 2012. "A systematic two phase approach for the nurse rostering problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(2), pages 425-433.
    9. Frederik Knust & Lin Xie, 2019. "Simulated annealing approach to nurse rostering benchmark and real-world instances," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 272(1), pages 187-216, January.
    10. Suk Ho Jin & Ho Yeong Yun & Suk Jae Jeong & Kyung Sup Kim, 2017. "Hybrid and Cooperative Strategies Using Harmony Search and Artificial Immune Systems for Solving the Nurse Rostering Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Young-Chae Hong & Amy Cohn & Stephen Gorga & Edmond O’Brien & William Pozehl & Jennifer Zank, 2019. "Using Optimization Techniques and Multidisciplinary Collaboration to Solve a Challenging Real-World Residency Scheduling Problem," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 201-212, May.
    12. Jonas Baeklund, 2014. "Nurse rostering at a Danish ward," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 222(1), pages 107-123, November.
    13. Lotfi Hidri & Achraf Gazdar & Mohammed M. Mabkhot, 2020. "Optimized Procedure to Schedule Physicians in an Intensive Care Unit: A Case Study," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-24, November.
    14. Wright, P. Daniel & Mahar, Stephen, 2013. "Centralized nurse scheduling to simultaneously improve schedule cost and nurse satisfaction," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1042-1052.
    15. Topaloglu, Seyda, 2009. "A shift scheduling model for employees with different seniority levels and an application in healthcare," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 198(3), pages 943-957, November.
    16. Hadi W. Purnomo & Jonathan F. Bard, 2007. "Cyclic preference scheduling for nurses using branch and price," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 200-220, March.
    17. Maenhout, Broos & Vanhoucke, Mario, 2013. "An integrated nurse staffing and scheduling analysis for longer-term nursing staff allocation problems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 485-499.
    18. Stolletz, Raik & Brunner, Jens O., 2012. "Fair optimization of fortnightly physician schedules with flexible shifts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(3), pages 622-629.
    19. Melissa R. Bowers & Charles E. Noon & Wei Wu & J. Kirk Bass, 2016. "Neonatal Physician Scheduling at the University of Tennessee Medical Center," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 168-182, April.
    20. Peyman Kiani Nahand & Mahdi Hamid & Mahdi Bastan & Ali Mollajan, 2019. "Human resource management: new approach to nurse scheduling by considering human error," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 10(6), pages 1429-1443, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:annopr:v:218:y:2014:i:1:p:185-199:10.1007/s10479-012-1235-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.