A clinic uses doctors and nurses to serve the maximum number of patients given a limited annual payroll.The clinic currently has 10 doctors and 30 nurses.The last doctor hired can serve 300 additional patients,while the last nurse hired can serve 200 additional patients.If doctors make $60,000 a year and nurses make $20,000 a year,the clinic
A)is making the correct hiring decision because doctors are more productive than nurses.
B)is making the correct hiring decision because doctors are paid more than nurses.
C)could serve more patients with the same payroll by hiring more doctors and fewer nurses.
D)could serve more patients with the same payroll by hiring more nurses and fewer doctors.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since the last nurse hired can serve 200 additional patients while being paid only one-third of the salary of the last doctor hired, it would be more cost-effective to hire more nurses and fewer doctors. By doing so, the clinic could serve more patients with the same payroll. This option is better than option A, which assumes doctors are more productive, and option B, which fails to consider the cost difference between doctors and nurses. Option C suggests to hire more doctors and fewer nurses, which is not cost-effective. Therefore, option D is the best choice.

A Clinic Uses Doctors and Nurses to Serve the Maximum