Application of a computer-based zero-one methodology to the assignment of nurses to a clinical rotation schedule

This article discusses the application of a zero-one approach to the development of a total program schedule that assigns students to all required clinical courses in an academic nursing program. The approach is based on an operations research technique, zero-one programming. Unlike zero-one programming, the objective function in this formulation is arbitrary; any solution that meets the constraints of the system is acceptable. Also described in this article are the constraints that limit flexibility of student assignments (i.e., available clinical sites and units, instructors, day or evening, maximum class sizes, order of courses), a solution to the scheduling problem at Saint Joseph's (which involves 1,067 equations), and suggestions for the general utility of a zero-one approach for similar administrative problems.