Hospital · nurse rota

Making a nurse rota with AI: a ward manager's conversation

A ward manager types out the team and the rules: three shifts, at least 24 hours' rest after a night shift, no weekends for Sarah, and a senior nurse on every shift. The imRoster assistant asks for what's missing, adds each rule on its own approval card, fills December in the background and reports back.

Describe your own team

imRoster assistantMedical ward · 12 nurses

Manager
I have 12 nurses on the medical ward, all already in imRoster. Shifts are 08-16, 16-24 and 00-08. They need at least 24 hours off after a night shift. Sarah doesn't work weekends. Every shift needs at least one senior nurse. Make me the December rota.
imRoster assistant
Let's set up the shifts first. A few things I need to know: 1. What's the minimum and maximum number of nurses on each shift? 2. Who are the senior nurses? 3. Should “at least one senior on every shift” be a hard rule, or applied as far as possible?
Manager
Days 3-4, lates 2-3, nights 2. Seniors are Sarah, Emma, Grace, Hannah, Laura and Rachel. Make the senior rule a hard one.
imRoster assistant
Got it. Adding the shifts:
Proposed changeApproved
3 shifts
- Early 08:00–16:00 · 3–4 nurses
- Late 16:00–24:00 · 2–3 nurses
- Night 00:00–08:00 · 2 nurses · at least 24 hours' rest after it ends
imRoster assistant
Shifts added. Tagging the seniors:
Proposed changeApproved
“Senior” tag
- Sarah, Emma, Grace, Hannah, Laura, Rachel
imRoster assistant
Now the rules, one card each. First:
Proposed changeApproved
Rule: Sarah doesn't work weekends
- Never placed on a shift that starts on a Saturday or Sunday
- Never relaxed
imRoster assistant
Applied. Next:
Proposed changeApproved
Rule: at least 1 senior on every shift
- Early, Late and Night shifts
- Hard rule
imRoster assistant
Rules are in. Shall I open December and start the fill? It runs in the background and I'll tell you when it's done.
Proposed changeApproved
Fill: 1–31 December 2026
- 12 nurses · 3 shifts · 93 shifts
imRoster assistant
The December rota is ready.
- No gaps: all 93 shifts are covered
- No rule had to be relaxed
It's in the calendar now. I can also send it as a PDF or an Excel file.

An illustrative conversation: names and numbers are examples, and replies are shortened. The rules and steps are the ones the imRoster assistant actually follows.

The result

The roster in the imRoster calendar

Week of 7–13 December 2026 · 6 of the 12 nurses (S: senior)
Nurse	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
SarahS	E	E	E	L	L	–	–
EmmaS	N	–	L	L	–	N	–
GraceS	L	L	–	E	E	L	L
Olivia	E	E	–	N	–	E	E
Priya	E	–	N	–	L	L	–
James	–	E	E	–	N	–	L

EEarly 08–16
LLate 16–24
NNight 00–08
–Off

Behind the chat

What the manager said, and what imRoster did with it

What the manager said, and what imRoster did with it
The manager said	What imRoster does
“Days 3-4, lates 2-3, nights 2”	Each shift gets a minimum and maximum number of nurses. If you don't give one, the assistant asks rather than assuming.
“At least 24 hours off after a night shift”	The Night shift gets a 24-hour rest period that the fill never relaxes. A nurse coming off nights can start the 08:00 Early the next day at the earliest, so nobody works two nights back to back.
“Sarah doesn't work weekends”	Sarah gets a ban on shifts that start on Saturday or Sunday, and it never bends. The 00–08 shift counts on the day it starts, so the Monday 00–08 night is a weekday shift.
“Every shift needs at least one senior nurse”	Seniors are tagged “Senior”, and every shift looks for at least one person with that tag. As a hard rule it's a strict constraint. If there aren't enough seniors, the assistant says so when the rule is written, or the fill report names the rule that had to bend.
“Make me the December rota”	December is opened and the fill runs in the background. When it's done the assistant reports any uncovered shifts and why. The rota lands in the calendar and can be exported as PDF or Excel.

FAQ

Questions about this example

Does the AI build the rota from a single message?

You can describe everything in one message, but the assistant sets it up in stages: shifts, then rules, then the fill. Every change comes as an approval card and nothing is applied until you approve it. If something is missing, like headcount per shift, who the seniors are or whether a rule is hard, it asks instead of guessing.

What if there aren't enough senior nurses?

You'll hear about it in one of two places. When the rule is written, and the period already has shifts, the assistant checks whether it can hold; if not, it explains why and asks whether to add it anyway. During the fill, if hard rules contradict each other, imRoster still produces a rota but lists the rules it relaxed and the shifts left uncovered.

Can I talk to the assistant instead of typing?

Yes. Record a voice message and it's transcribed, with your staff and shift names used as hints so they're recognised. The assistant replies in the language you used.

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