Hospital administrators wanted to understand and better control the waiting time of patients in the emergency department (ED). To do this, they constructed x –

-chart and R-charts by sampling the waiting times of the first five patients admitted to the ED at the beginning of each shift (7 a.m., 3 p.m., and 11 p.m.). What do you think of this approach?

Will it provide the information the hospital administrators seek? How might the sampling process be improved, and what would you recommend?