韩国裸舞

Craig Froehle

Carl H. Lindner College of Business
University of Cincinnati

Worker-Centered Scheduling: Two Healthcare Operations Studies on Scheduling Fairness and Scheduling-Induced Fatigue

Date: Friday, February 7, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Location: Bronfman Building, Room 245

Abstract

Study 1 addresses the challenge of balancing equality and equity in organizational decision-making, specifically focusing on how employees perceive fairness in personnel management decisions. The researchers developed a bi-objective optimization model to balance these competing aspects of distributive justice, applying it to a case study of allocating physicians' time across emergency department locations. Implementation of the model significantly reduced undesired work location assignments while accounting for individual preferences. Post-implementation surveys showed significant improvements in employee perceptions of fairness, transparency, and satisfaction, demonstrating that unequal outcomes can still be perceived as fair when they reflect individual preferences and inputs. Study 2 investigates how shift structure affects worker fatigue in healthcare settings. We devised a novel fatigue-monitoring system and deployed it in the emergency department of a large Midwestern hospital. Both shift duration and shift timing significantly affected healthcare workers' physical and mental fatigue levels. We also examined recovery periods (time between clinical shifts). We found that while time spent during recovery periods on extra-clinical work duties or personal chores reduced workers' ability to recover from shift-induced fatigue, spending recovery time with family and friends, even if in a caregiving role, significantly enhanced fatigue recovery.