QUESTION: you are to come up the minimum number of nurses required for the telemedicine unit. Here are your assumptions / constraints:
The Telemedicine Unit is open 7 days a week from 7am – 7pm. This is one 12-hour shift.
At 145 calls per day, that is 12 calls on average per hour. Since a single nurse can handle 4 calls an hour, we need 3 nurses minimum manning the telemedicine center for the 12 hour shift.
There will be 4 telemedicine nurses on a shift, and they work 4 days on and 3 off. Four nurses are required due to breaks and meals. This leaves 3 nurses to staff the telemedicine consoles at all times.
All nurses earn 4 weeks of vacation a year. A week is 7 days for planning purposes.
You can assume the nurses are unavailable 1 week of the year for professional development.
On average the nurses are only sick 3 days a year.