A simulation model for analyzing the nurse workload in a university hospital ward

The aim of the present work is to propose a prototype simulation of a hospital ward which permits the study of the workload and task distribution among nursing and auxiliary personnel. In our study, we took both X a generic ward in a complex healthcare structure (University Hospital “Federico II” - Naples, Italy) and a case study of a hospital immunology department as reference models. Both analyses were carried out together with a team of expert head nurses and following a specific simulation model developed in the Simul8 environment, which allowed the calculation of patient assistance timing as well as the efficiency of personnel use depending on the patient autonomy.