O objetivo do presente trabalho é apresentar uma proposta metodológica para auxiliar o desenvolvimento de modelos de simulação a eventos discretos empregados como recurso de apoio didático. Apesar de existirem várias metodologias para auxiliar a construção de modelos de simulação, nenhuma delas apresenta, de forma direta, os elementos necessários para a construção de um modelo de simulação empregado com fins didáticos. Assim, três metodologias com larga aplicação e citações na área foram avaliadas. Verificaram-se, também, os elementos essenciais necessários para a elaboração de um modelo de simulação para ser construído por um professor não especialista em simulação discreta. Dois modelos de simulação foram elaborados por dois professores das disciplinas de Informática e Física como forma de testar a metodologia proposta. A versão livre de custos do software Arena, oferecida para estudantes, foi utilizada em ambos os modelos como ambiente de desenvolvimento dos modelos de simulação. Os modelos foram aplicados em aulas das respectivas disciplinas e se mostraram adequados para auxiliar a explanação e a visualização dos conceitos dinâmicos exigidos para a apresentação dos conteúdos abordados.

This paper presents the evaluation of a discrete event simulation model designed to be used as a didactic aid instrument in classes of a technical course on high school. The simulation model was developed using the free version of the Arena software. Among the results obtained, it was found that applying this model as a didactic resource in classes has enabled an increase of quality in the students’ learning. This result was even more significant concerning students with average grades below 6. In these cases, with the help of the simulator, students of worse educational achievement obtained performance close to the ones that had average grades equal to or higher than 8.

Health care systems in many countries are experiencing a growing demand while their resources remain limited. The discrepancy between demand and capacity creates many problems-long waiting times for treatment, overcrowding in hospital wards, high workload, etc. More efficient delivery of health care services can be achieved by better planning of its resources so that the mismatch between demand and capacity is minimized. Planning health care resources, including hospital resources, is difficult due to system complexity and variability in both resource availability and demand. Discrete-event simulation and other operational research methods can be used for solving planning problems in health care, and have been gaining increased attention from researchers during recent decades. Despite the growing number of academic publications, simulation appears to be less used in health care than in other application areas and only a small proportion of simulation studies is actually implemented. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to increased use of discrete-event simulation in hospital resource planning. The separate studies regarding intensive care unit capacity planning, operating room allocation strategies and the management of emergency patient flow in a radiology department highlight both the possibilities and the requirements for practical application of discrete-event simulation in hospital resource planning. The studies are described in five papers. In the first paper, the relationship between intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy and patient outcomes was investigated and the results showed that risk adjusted mortality was higher in the group of patients who were treated during high levels of occupancy. This indicates that appropriate planning of ICU resources is necessary to avoid adverse effects on patient outcomes. In the second paper, analysis of a relatively simple care chain consisting of two hospital departments-emergency and radiology-revealed a process that was not very well defined and measured. Investigation into data availability uncovered disparate information systems storing incompatible and fragmented data. It suggests that the current degree of process orientation and the current IT infrastructure does not enable efficient use of quantitative process analysis and management tools such as simulation. In the third paper, the value and possibilities of using simulation modelling in hospital resource planning were examined through the development and use of a simulation model for improved operating room time allocation and patient flow in a hospital operating department. The model was initially used for studying overcrowding in a post-anaesthesia care unit. Advanced planning logic implemented in the model enabled evaluation of several different scenarios aiming to improve the utilization of operating room resources. The results showed that it is possible to achieve slightly better and more even resource utilization, as well as provide greater flexibility in scheduling operations. In the fourth paper, ...