Nurse Patient Assignment

Nurse Patient Assignment problems involve determining the minimum number of nurses needed to care for a given number of patients, where each nurse can handle at most a certain number of patients.

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200+Practice Questions
Beginner to IntermediateDifficulty
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Introduction to Nurse Patient Assignment

Nurse Patient Assignment problems involve determining the minimum number of nurses needed to care for a given number of patients, where each nurse can handle at most a certain number of patients.

Prerequisites

Ceiling division Patient-to-nurse ratio Staffing calculation
Why This Matters: Nurse Patient problems appear in 1-2 questions in SSC CGL and Banking exams. They test ratio-based staffing calculations.

How to Solve Nurse Patient Assignment Problems

1

Step 1: Number of patients = P

2

Step 2: Maximum patients per nurse = C

3

Step 3: Minimum nurses = ceil(P / C)

4

Step 4: Answer with number of nurses

Pro Strategy: Divide total patients by capacity per nurse and round up. This ensures all patients are covered.

Example Problem

Example: 23 patients, each nurse can handle up to 5 patients. Minimum nurses? Solution: Step 1: P=23, C=5 Step 2: Nurses = ceil(23/5) = ceil(4.6) = 5 Answer: 5 nurses

Pro Tips & Tricks

  • Minimum nurses = (P + C - 1) // C
  • If P is multiple of C, exactly P/C nurses
  • Otherwise, one extra nurse needed
  • This is a lower bound (may need more due to shift constraints)

Shortcut Methods to Solve Faster

For C=4, nurses = ceil(P/4)
For C=5, nurses = ceil(P/5)
Common ratios: 1:4, 1:5, 1:6

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using floor instead of ceiling
Forgetting that nurses cannot handle fractional patients
Assuming each nurse can handle different capacity
Not considering that nurses work shifts (same calculation per shift)

Exam Importance

Nurse Patient Assignment is an important topic for various competitive exams. Here's how frequently it appears:

SSC CGL
1-2 questions
BANKING PO
1-2 questions
RAILWAYS RRB
1-2 questions
INSURANCE
1-2 questions

Ready to Master Nurse Patient Assignment?

Start with Worksheet 1 and work your way up to expert level! Each worksheet includes:

20 practice questions
Detailed solutions
Step-by-step explanations
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