Figure 71-14 Postanesthesia care unit (PACU) simulation model for nursing staffing. The simulations assume that the surgery suite determines the number of full-time equivalents to staff the PACU by scheduling the minimum number to handle the peak workload on 95% of days. Full-time nurses are scheduled on overlapping shifts (two shifts per day) so that all nurses are present at the time of day when the peak number of patients in the PACU is expected.