Assignments Troubleshooting common problems

Q: I assigned my patients but when I click on the “Assigned” button, it says “No patients assigned to this staff person”. When I look my name up, the patients are highlighted blue. Why isn’t it working? A: Usually caused when staff members assign patients on the shift opposite of theirs (e.g. they set their assignment for night shift when they work day shift). Another issue may be that they have the assignment set to begin on the wrong date. Use the following steps to determine the start date/time span of an assignment: 1) Have the user search for the same as when they are making their assignment 2) Have them double click their name: note that their assigned patient’s names are highlighted

Missing Assignment continued… 3) The Staff Detail dialog box will open. Note the start and end date and time of the assignment. In this case, I am working day shift on 2/11 but my assignment doesn’t start until night shift on 2/11 4) To solve this have the user end the assignment and reassign the patients ensuring that the correct shift and start date/time are selected. For assistance in ending assignments see the “Ending Assignments” PowerPoint

Q: Every time I try to change the time parameters on my assignment, it gets all messed up. Also, the computer beeps when I try to leave the time fields A: This is a bug in the system. The workaround is simple but involves several steps. Prior to assigning any patients have the user: 1) Reselect “Primary Nurse” from the Care Relation dropdown 2) Select the appropriate shift from the popup 3) Reset times as desired starting with the END time first

Q: My patient isn’t showing up in my assignment so I can’t give meds A: When meds need to be given and the user is having assignment trouble, have them click the Census button. All RNs can access all patient’s charts this way. Similar Calls: I assigned my patient 20 minutes ago and they still haven’t shown up in my assignment (use Census button to access patient chart)

Q: My assignment settings aren’t sticking. How can I get them to stick? A: Once the user has their assignment configuration customized, go to the File menu and select “Save Configuration”. After that has been done, however, the user needs to click the “Exit” button every time they leave Create Assignment. Do not use the red X in the upper right hand corner

Tips and Tricks to Remember The date/time that an assignment is active for is determined by the person who makes the assignment not the person who owns the assignment. Thus, if a night shift MR makes a day shift RN’s assignment but forgets to change her parameters to day shift, the RN’s assignment will be for night shift The easiest way to fix a dysfunctional assignment is to end the assignment and reassign the patients Patients who are admitted at shift change (7a and 7p) often take up to 30 minutes to show up on a user’s assignment Users only get the very basics of Create Assignment in class Encourage the users to utilize the “Exit” button when leaving Create Assignment