This tool is designed to help charge nurses visualize assignments and workload, but it does not replace clinical judgment. All assignments should always be reviewed and adjusted based on real-time patient safety, staffing skill mix, and unit conditions. Use this tool as decision support only.

When you first open the app, choose the side of the unit you are working on (A-side or D-side). After selecting the side, choose whether you are working Day shift or Night shift. The workspace for Day and Night looks the same, but Night shift includes a way to mark who is in charge, since charge nurses usually carry lighter assignments.

Start by entering the names of the nurses working the shift. Each nurse is expected to carry four rooms when fully staffed. If someone calls in sick, use the Called in sick checkbox beside their name. As soon as it is checked, that nurse’s name will be crossed out and all of their rooms will immediately move to Unassigned, so you can safely re-distribute them. A replacement name field will appear automatically, allowing you to enter a new nurse if coverage becomes available. Unchecking Sick brings the nurse back, but does not automatically give rooms back.

Each room can be flagged to reflect workload. Critically ill / Modified patients are shown in red and represent the highest acuity. These patients require the most attention and are generally not moved during rebalancing unless a nurse has more than one critically ill patient. ++ Violence is shown in purple and highlights safety risk. Total care rooms are shown in blue and require significant hands-on work. ++ Needs and ++ Tasks are shown in orange and represent frequent requests or frequent nursing tasks. These colors help you see workload instantly without reading details.

Rooms 320-H, 440-H (A-side) and 720-H, 820-H (D-side) are hallway beds. These beds are usually empty and easier. When marked Empty, they are treated as very light workload and are often the first beds used to balance assignments when someone has a very sick or very heavy patient.

You assign rooms to nurses either by using the dropdown next to the room or by dragging the room box directly onto a nurse in the Nursing Assignment Summary. Everything updates immediately when you move a room.

The Balance Meter shows how evenly the workload is distributed. A small spread means assignments are fairly even. A large spread means someone is carrying much more than others. The balance meter looks at both how many rooms each nurse has and how heavy those rooms are.

The Suggest Rebalance feature offers ideas only. It will never move a nurse’s only critically ill patient. Instead, it suggests trading a heavier non-critical room for a lighter room, often using hallway beds when possible. Suggestions also try to keep rooms physically closer together when workload impact is similar. You are never required to follow suggestions.

The Deviate feature is used when you are short-staffed. It shows where unassigned rooms could go to keep things as fair as possible. It does not automatically assign rooms.

If a room is marked LPN / Float appropriate, it will appear as eligible in the LPN Assignment area. Only eligible rooms can be placed there.

Use Save Today to store the current assignment with the date.

Use Refresh if you ever want to force everything to recalculate. Use Reset only if you want to completely clear the current shift and start over.

Always review the final assignments carefully. This tool helps you see workload clearly, but you decide what is safest for your unit.