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Emergency department scheduling

Physicians, APPs and nurses on one schedule. Every save checks role, overlapping shifts, minimum rest and approved time off. Trades, sick calls and your shifts at other sites in Capillary are checked for overlap and rest too.

Harbor Emergency DepartmentPublished

Mon 5

07 Shah

07 Moreno

07 Petrov

10 Park

15 Bell

19 Silva

19 Mensah

23 Ruiz

Tue 6

07 Kim

07 Okafor

07 Torres

10 Nguyen

15 Morgan

19 Haddad

19 Liu

23 Rivera

Wed 7

07 Lee

07 Adams

07 Novak

10 Fox

15 Chen

19 Petrov

19 Moreno

23 Shah

Example weekdays with sample names. The number is the start hour.

The schedule

One schedule for the whole department

Each shift is for a physician (MD or DO), an APP (PA or NP) or a nurse (RN). Physicians can work 8-hour shifts while nurses work 12-hour shifts on the same schedule.

A filter shows physicians, APPs or nurses on their own. You publish the whole month at once, after every shift has someone on it.

Staff scheduling for the whole ED

A day in Harbor Emergency Department

The sample department’s 8 shifts a day. From 10:00 to 20:00 a physician, the APP and two nurses are on; at all other hours, three people are on.

  • Physicians MD, DO

    Day, evening and night shifts with the department's minimum rest between them.

    Physician schedules

  • APPs PA, NP

    Fast track and main ED shifts beside the physicians.

    APP scheduling

  • Nurses RN

    One line for each nurse on a 12-hour shift.

    Nurse scheduling

Harbor Emergency Department

Sample department, minimum rest 12 hours

Week of Oct 12

Swipe the board sideways to see the whole week.

Harbor Emergency Department: who works each shift, week of Mon, Oct 12. Sample names.
ShiftMon12Tue13Wed14Thu15Fri16Sat17Sun18
Day shift07:00 to 15:00RiveraShahKimLeeBellMorganChen
Nurse day 107:00 to 19:00NovakSilvaLiuMorenoOkaforAdamsMensah
Nurse day 207:00 to 19:00AdamsMensahHaddadPetrovTorresNovakSilva
Fast track10:00 to 20:00NguyenFoxParkNguyenFoxParkNguyen
Evening shift15:00 to 23:00LeeBellMorganChenRuizRiveraShah
Nurse night 119:00 to 07:00 +1MorenoTorresNovakSilvaHaddadPetrovOkafor
Nurse night 219:00 to 07:00 +1PetrovOkaforAdamsMensahLiuMorenoTorres
Night shift23:00 to 07:00 +1ChenRuizRiveraShahKimLeeBell
  • Day
  • Evening
  • Night
  • APP
  • Nurse
  • Sample names. +1 means the shift ends the next morning.
A sample week with sample names. Use the arrows for the next week.

Harbor Emergency Department

America/New_York · Minimum rest 12 h

Published

October 2026

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
  • Day
  • Evening
  • Night
  • APP
  • Nurse
  • Open

Thu, Oct 1

  • Day shift

    07:00–15:00 · Physician

    Alex Morgan

  • Nurse day 1

    07:00–19:00 · Nurse

    Maya Torres

  • Nurse day 2

    07:00–19:00 · Nurse

    Ben Okafor

  • Fast track

    10:00–20:00 · APP

    Jamie Fox

  • Evening shift

    15:00–23:00 · Physician

    Sam Rivera

  • Nurse night 1

    19:00–07:00 (+1 day) · Nurse

    Grace Liu

  • Nurse night 2

    19:00–07:00 (+1 day) · Nurse

    Omar Haddad

  • Night shift

    23:00–07:00 (+1 day) · Physician

    Jordan Lee
The published month as Capillary shows it, with sample names. Select a day to see its shifts.

For schedulers and medical directors

Build the month. Every save is checked.

  • Lay out the month

    Pick Emergency department under Start from a department template, and an empty month fills with the 8 shifts a day, ready to assign. Or add shifts by date range, one for each person working them.

  • Rules checked on every save

    Each save checks every assignment in the month. The person must have the shift's role, no overlapping shift, the department's minimum rest and no shift starting on approved time off. Rest is checked across the month boundary and against the person's published shifts at other sites in Capillary.

  • Hints while you assign

    The list for each shift offers only active people with its role. A shift at another site or approved time off blocks the choice; requests and preferences are only hints.

  • Workload beside the draft

    Each person's shifts, nights and weekend shifts for the month, so you can even them out as you go.

  • Day shift: less than 12 hours of rest from Night shift on Oct 11.
  • Night shift: overlaps Evening shift on Oct 14.
  • Fast track: clinician does not match the required role.
  • Day shift: clinician is on approved time off on Nov 21.
Sample messages. A save shows the first problem it finds. Nothing is saved, and your edits stay on screen.
How the checks work
One clinician’s requests for a sample month. After the due date, day requests lock; time off can still be requested.

  • Requests and time off by a due date

    Clinicians tap a day to mark it off if possible, must be off or want to work, and send time off as a date range with a reason for you to approve. Once time off is approved, the schedule will not save with that person on a shift that starts on those days.

  • Shift preferences

    Each clinician sets the fewest, ideal and most shifts per week, shifts in a row, weekend shifts and nights in a row, and rates each shift. You see them while you assign. They never block a save.

  • Draft, then publish

    The month is a private draft that only the department owner and schedulers see. Publishing checks every shift and records who published and when. Until you publish again, clinicians see the last published version.

  • Roster import and month export

    Import a spreadsheet of names, emails and roles, and review every row before anything saves. Importing the same people again adds no duplicates. Export saves a published month as a CSV file, one row per shift.

Requests and time offDrafts and publishing

For physicians, APPs and nurses

Your shifts, your requests and your trades

Clinicians join from their scheduler’s invitation. Everyone sees the same published month.

  • Physicians MD, DO

    • My schedule lists your shifts at every site in Capillary, and one calendar link puts them in Google, Apple or Outlook.
    • Send day requests, time off and weekly preferences before the due date.
    • Swap or give away shifts, checked for overlap and rest before anyone agrees.
    Physician schedules

  • APPs PA, NP

    • Only a PA or NP can fill a shift marked APP. Fast track and main ED APP shifts sit on the same schedule as the physicians' shifts.
    • Overlap and minimum rest apply to APPs exactly as to physicians, including shifts at other sites in Capillary.
    • APPs trade with other APPs under the same checks.
    APP scheduling

  • Nurses RN

    • Each nurse on a 12-hour shift has their own shift on the schedule.
    • Nurses request days off before the due date, and time off at any time.
    • Nurses trade only with other nurses, and see their shifts in their phone calendar.
    Nurse scheduling

Trades

Swaps checked before anyone agrees

Swap or give away a shift in the browser. Before anyone agrees, Capillary checks the person taking the shift for overlap and the department’s minimum rest, including their shifts at other sites in Capillary. The swap calendar shades each day by the number of swaps that pass every check.

The published schedule changes when both people agree, or when the scheduler approves if your department asks for approval.

Your group schedules in another app?

The free Department tab reads your group’s calendar link and lists the swaps that work for both people, with colleagues who usually work that kind of shift first. You still arrange the swap in your group’s app.

The free swap finder

Swap passes every check

Your Saturday night for Kim's Tuesday day. Both keep at least 12 hours of rest.

Not offered

Lee works the next morning, so your night would leave 8 hours of rest.

A swap that passes and one that is never offered. Sample names.

  1. 06:30 Call-out reported

    Kai is out for Saturday's evening shift, 15:00 to 23:00.

  2. 06:30 Offered to the group

    Any physician whose rest, shifts and time off allow it can take the shift. Its premium rises each hour.

  3. 11:00 Deadline

    If nobody has taken it, the scheduler picks cover, with backup listed first.

One call-out with open-shift offers on. Sample names and times.

Sick calls and coverage

Cover a sick call

A clinician or scheduler reports a call-out on a published shift in the Coverage tab, and the scheduler chooses cover, with backup listed first. A scheduler can turn on three extras.

  • Open shift with a rising premium

    The call-out is posted as an open shift, and anyone with its role whose rest, other shifts and time off allow it can take it. The premium rises on a timer, up to a cap you set.

  • Day and night backup

    Each day gets a day backup for day and evening shifts and a night backup for nights.

  • Fairness ledger

    Each person's backup days, call-ins and shifts covered over the last 12 months. Schedulers see every row; each clinician sees only their own.

Sick call coverage

Two or more sites

One account for every department you work in

One account can belong to several emergency departments, with its own role at each. When a scheduler at one site saves or publishes, Capillary checks your published shifts at the others for overlaps and for less rest than that site requires.

All my sites shows a month of your published shifts at every site, each in its own color, with your shifts, hours and nights. One calendar link carries them all, with titles such as “Night shift · Ridge ED”.

Working at two or more sites

Ridge ED

  • Tue Dec 8 07:00 to 15:00
  • Thu Dec 10 23:00 to 07:00

Lakeside ED

  • Fri Dec 11 15:00 to 23:00
  • Sun Dec 13 07:00 to 15:00

Evening shift on Dec 11: less than 11 hours of rest from a shift at another site on Dec 10.

A physician’s shifts at two sample departments, and the message Lakeside’s next save shows.

Your hours

Your hours and your hardest shifts

Add your scheduling app’s calendar link, or an .ics file, and My hours shows your hours per week against a limit you set, your nights, short rests between shifts and days in a row. After each shift you can rate how tired you were. Only you see it.

  • Your hardest shifts

    Each one drawn over the 48 hours before it, with predicted alertness.

  • Three ways to mark a hard shift

    Flags from your shift times, or one of two published fatigue models.

  • Estimates, kept private

    These estimates describe people in general, not you, and Capillary does not measure sleep. Your scheduler does not see them.

The hours trackerThe models behind it

Hours, 3 weeks
64 h
Nights
3
Rests under 11 h
0
0006121824
  • Day (starts 05:00 to 12:59)
  • Evening (starts 13:00 or later)
  • Night (half a night or more)
  • Scheduled, not yet worked
  • Under 11 h since the last shift
Four weeks of one sample physician. Each row is a day from midnight to midnight; the last week is still scheduled.

Department analytics

See how the whole department’s work is shared

Add your group’s whole schedule on the Department tab, by calendar link or file, and Capillary shows how the work is shared.

  • Fairness and holidays

    Each person's nights, weekends and holidays, set against the rest of the group.

  • Coverage by hour

    People on in each hour of the week, by group.

  • Rest

    Short rests, single nights and backward rotations across the group.

  • Patterns

    Who works nights only or never works weekends, flagged only when chance alone would produce the pattern less than 1% of the time.

Only you see the results.

People on, hour by hour

A weekday in the sample department, by group.

Night shifts this month, by physician

Counted from the sample department’s month. Sample names.

Getting started

From an empty month to a published one

  1. 1

    Create the department

    Name it, then set its time zone and minimum rest.

  2. 2

    Add the template

    Pick Emergency department in Build schedule, or lay out coverage by date range.

  3. 3

    Add your roster

    Type people in or import a CSV, then invite each one from the Clinicians tab.

  4. 4

    Assign

    Choose who works each shift. Saving names the first shift that breaks a rule.

  5. 5

    Publish

    Everyone sees the month, and each person can add it to their phone calendar.

What it does not do yet

Each guide lists its own limits.

  • It does not build the month for you. You choose who works each shift, and Capillary checks each choice.
  • Minimum rest is one number for the whole department. You can't yet set a different rest rule for APPs.
  • Saving does not check shift counts, personal rest hours or weekly ratings. Those stay beside each name for you to weigh.
  • It schedules physicians, APPs and nurses. Techs and scribes are not on the schedule.
  • Trades stay inside one department's roster, though shifts at your other sites still count in the checks.
  • There is no app-store app. Clinicians use the phone's browser and see their shifts in their phone calendar.

Questions

Something else? Book a time with a logistics expert.

Who is it for?
Schedulers, medical directors and nurse managers who build physician, APP and nurse schedules for an emergency department, and the clinicians who work from them.
Do we need to share patient data?
No. The schedule uses staff names, email addresses and roles only.
How do we start?
Create an account and confirm your email. Then name your department, set its time zone and minimum rest, and add your clinicians.
Can we try it first?
Yes. The demo shows a full sample month for a fictional department, and it needs no account.
Can our clinicians use it while we keep our current scheduling app?
Yes. A clinician can bring that app's calendar link into Capillary for their hours and analytics, and their group's whole calendar for the swap finder. The group keeps scheduling where it does today.
What happens when daylight saving time starts or ends?
Capillary counts shift length and rest in elapsed hours. A start or end time that is repeated or missing that night is refused, with a message that names the time.

Every feature has a guide

Each guide shows the feature with a worked example.

Guides and free tools

Other departments

The same scheduler, with a template for each department’s shifts.

All departments

Start your department’s schedule

Create an account, add the Emergency department template and publish your first month. No credit card or patient data is needed.

Create your accountOpen the demoTalk to a logistics expert