Representation:

The above problem can be symbolically represented as:

N =  the set of nurses {N₁, N₂, N₃….N_i}

L = the set of locations of senior citizens {L₁, L₂, L₃, ….L_j}

Ln = the set of locations for the Nurses {Ln₁, Ln₂, Ln₃, ….Lnp}. Each Schedule is associated with a nurse N will start and end with the location of associated nurse.

S = Senior citizens located in L to be nursed for the timeslot TW. There could be the possibility that one or more senior citizens can be available in a Location. This can be represented as L = (S₁ S₂…S_n)

TW = Work time slots. These time slots are variable time slots depending on the work request specified from senior citizens. This is the actual time slot nursed for senior citizens. (TW₁, TW₂, …..TW_k). Each Nurse N is scheduled for 1 or more TW. Each TW is associated with a particular location L.

 

Strategy:

• The senior citizens all need care at different or maybe at the same time and make requests for services.
•  Nurses are allotted to provide care for them and one nurse maybe allotted to more than one patient/senior citizen.
• Some form of negotiation is needed to ensure that all patients are attended to and given treatment without any delay using minimum number of nurses and within a short time span.
• The patients basically make requests or bids for a time slot TW for their treatment.
• Nurses are allocated according to the availability of their schedule.
• If more than 2 patients make a bid/request at the same time and at that instant only one nurse is currently available then the patient with greater priority is given preference. The other patient waits his turn until the next nurse is free from attending to her previous patient.