Maenhout, BroosVanhoucke, Mario2017-12-022017-12-0220090160-568210.1057/jors.2008.131http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12127/3330Nursing staff in various hospitals in Belgium are principally cyclically scheduled. The employed cyclic schedules embody, however, only a weak reflection of the ultimate nurse rosters constructed for a specific month. In this paper, we investigate the benefits of integrating nurse-specific characteristics in the cyclic scheduling approach. Moreover, we analyse to what extent these characteristics should be incorporated and compare this approach with a general and more robust cyclical scheduling approach and the flexible acyclical rostering of nursing personnel.enJournal of the Operational Research Society1476-9360140889586143798