PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) is a method for analyzing the tasks involved in complex projects. It estimates the time needed for each task and identifies the shortest time to complete the whole project. PERT breaks the project into activities with sequential relationships. It estimates optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely durations for each activity to calculate the expected duration while accounting for uncertainty. The critical path is determined as the longest sequence of activities to identify the minimum time needed and activities that could delay completion. PERT charts are used to plan, schedule, and monitor project progress through updating.

1. Tanoj patidar
1ST YEAR M.SC. NURSING
PROGRAMME EVALUATION
REVIEW TECHNIQUE (PERT)

2. PROGRAMME EVALUATION REVIEW TECHNIQUE
(PERT)
OBJECTIVE:
• To understand the formula, the use and the benefits of Program, Evaluation, and
Review Technic (PERT) analysis.
INTRODUCTION:
PERT is a method of analysing the tasks involved in completing a given project,
especially the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum
time needed to complete the total project. PERT was developed primarily to
simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects.
Developed by the US Navy for the planning and control of the
Polaris missile program. The emphasis was on completing the program in the
shortest possible time.
DEFINITION:
PERT is a work model devised to complete the project work in time. It analyses
the actual work time required to complete a task.
CONCEPT AND MEANING:
PERT is a very famous project model that has found its use in various
professions, including nursing.
 This model helps in judging the time required in completing an activity.
 Nurse administrators can use this model to delegate and assign the work
schedule to the nurses in a hospital.
 It not only evidences the cost effectiveness of nursing care but also has
great impact on reducing the expenditure by the patient.
This model helps to reduce the patient’s hospital stay by judging beforehand the
actual care time, manpower, money and the material required.

3. Therefore, following this model helps to prevent waste of time, money and
material, benefiting the patient and the hospital management.
WHEN WE USE PERT?
PERT is used when activity times are uncertain.
 Determine the duration of the project.
 Decision making under risk.
PERT INCLUDES:
steps or activities.
It Is a model for project management designed to analyse and represent the
task involved in completing a given project.
COMPONENTS OF PERT MODEL:
Every activity consume time and needs adequate resources such as manpower,
material, space and machinery to change or move one event to other.
Predecessor event – It is an event that precedes some other event, it can be
single or multiple.
Successor events – It is an event that immediately follows some other events,
it can have single multiple successor events.
Optimistic Time (O) – It is the minimum possible time required to complete
the task anticipating that every event has occurred better than usually expected.
Pessimistic Time (P) - This means the maximum possible time required to
complete the given task, expecting or assuming everything goes wrong except
the main catastrophes.

4. Most likely Time (M) – The actual and the best time required to complete the
task assuming everything goes in a usual way.
Expected time or the very best time (TH) – The accurate or the actual time
required to complete the task, it is the most reliable and valid time estimated to
complete a task. It can be calculated using the following relation
TH = (O + 4M – P) ÷ 6
e.g. TH = (5min + 4X 10 min – 15 min) ÷ 6 = 5 min
Float or slack time – it is the amount of time that can be floated without
causing delay in the total completion of the work.
Critical paths – it is the longest possible and the actual total time required to
complete the full task. It is otherwise called as total calendar time.
Critical total float activity – it is an activity that has total float equal to zero.
No float time is required in the critical path.
Lead time – this refers to the time taken by the predecessor to complete the
task. In this there is sufficient time for the subsequent activities that can follow
the predecessor.
Lag time – the earliest time taken by the successor event to take place, which
follows the specific PERT activity
PERT CHART:
A PERT chart is a graphical representation of the activities of a project, showing
the sequence that has to be performed continuously.
therefore it saves time, energy and material.

6. PURPOSES:
To schedule the project.
To manage the time.
e the work.
STEPS IN THE PERT PLANNING PROCESS:
PERT involves the following steps

7. IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONE
e tasks in a table.
DETERMINE THE PROPER SEQUENCE OF THE ACTIVITY
identification step.
-Since the activity sequence is evident for some tasks.
asks may require more analysis.
-To determine the exact order in which they must be performed.
CONSTRUCT A NETWORK DIAGRAM
-A network diagram can be drawn showing the sequence of the serial
and parallel activities.
Each activity represents: A node in the network,
The arrows represent: The relation between activities.
re packages simplify this task: By automatically converting tabular
activity information into a network diagram.
ESTIMATE THE TIME REQURIED FOR EACH ACTIVITY
distinguishing feature of PERT: Its ability to deal with uncertainty in
activity completion time.

8. Optimistic time(O)- The shortest time in which the activity can be completed.
Most likely time(M)- The completion time having the highest probability.
Pessimistic time (P)- the maximum possible time required to accomplish a
task, assuming everything goes wrong (but excluding major catastrophes).
Estimated Time(TE)- The best estimate of the time required to accomplish a
task, accounting for the fact that things don't always proceed as normal. TE = (O
+ 4M + P) ÷ 6
DETERMINE THE CRITICAL PATH
-Determined by adding the times for the activities in each sequence.
-Determining the longest path in the project.
time required for the project.
total project time does not change.
– critical path activity can be delayed without
the project is referred to as a slack time.
ES – Earliest Start time
EF - Earliest Finish time
LS – Latest Start time
LF - Latest Finish time
variances in the completion times of the activities in the critical path.
time for the activities in the critical path.
Project Crashing.

9. UPDATE THE PERT CHART AS THE PROJECT PROGRESSES
-Additional resources may be needed to stay on schedule.
-The PERT chart may be modified to reflect the new situation.
BENEFITS OF PERT:
activities.
USES:
Nurse managers use the PERT system for controlling
the program.
– looking.
PERT is generally used for complicated and extensive projects or programs.
• personnel staffing reports.
• overtime reports.
• monthly financial reports and others.

10. evaluate the use of people and money as a part of the controlling process.
ADVANTAGES:
project.
plans, schedules and time and cost – performance.
focusing management
attention i.e. most constraining on the schedule.
l changes on overall schedules.
between the WBS elements.
of dependencies leading to improved overlapping of activities and tasking where
feasible.
DISADVANTAGES:
dependency relationship.
iring several pages to
print and requiring special size paper.
makes it harder to show status although colours can help (e.g. specific colour for
completed nodes)
(Critical path method) charts become unwieldy, they
are no longer used to manage the project.

11. LIMITATIONS:
In other cases, if the person or group performing the activity estimates the time
there may be bias in the estimate.
– estimated, PERT assumes a beta
distribution for these time estimates, but the actual distribution may be different.
ds, PERT assumes that the
probability distribution of the project completion time is the same as the that of
the critical path.
BY TANOJ PATIDAR
MSc NURSING