The Care Assignments feature allows communities to designate which staff member is responsible for completing care tasks for specific residents. This guide covers how to enable the feature, set up staff schedules, and manage care list assignments.
About the Master Schedule and Point-in-Time Schedule
Care assignments in ALIS are managed across two scheduling views:
- Master Schedule: The recurring weekly template that defines who is assigned to which care list for each day of the rotation cycle. Changes here affect future rotations.
- Point-in-Time Schedule: The live, day-by-day view of what’s actually scheduled. It combines the Master Schedule with any one-off temporary changes, such as a coverage swap. Changes here are immediate and apply to specific dates only.
When you reassign or unassign a care list on the Master Schedule, ALIS will prompt you to decide what happens to any existing temporary assignments on the Point-in-Time Schedule before the change takes effect.
Step 1 - Enable Staff Care Assignments
To enable this feature, first navigate to Care Settings > General tab > Care Planning Options. Then, turn on the option Assign care lists to specific staff.
Optional: Enable the Allow staff to view and record care assigned to other caregivers setting for more flexible Care Tracking documentation once assignments are created.
Step 2 - Update Staff Work Schedules
In order to be able to assign staff to care lists, their Work Schedule must first be set up in their staff profile.
- Go to a Staff Profile > Work Schedule section.
- Click +Manage Work Days.
- Expand the shift time and select the week days that the staff member is scheduled to work.
- Each checked day defaults to Full, meaning they are scheduled for the entire shift. Select First Half or Second Half if they only work part of the shift.
- Expand the other shifts and select work days if applicable.
- Click Submit to save.
- (Optional) Repeat for Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4 tabs if the staff member’s schedule varies across the rotation. If they work the same days every week, their schedule will be the same across all four tabs.
Important: If your Care Shift time frames need adjusting, navigate to Care Settings. Additionally note that if the staff member is not scheduled for a shift/portion of the day, they will not be available to select when assigning lists in the Master Schedule.
Step 3 - Activate the Master Schedule
Care list assignments are managed from Care > Master Schedule. Before assignments can be made, the Master Schedule must be activated for the community. Until activated, Care Tracking will not display scheduled care items for the community and PRN care cannot be scheduled.
- Go to Master Schedule.
- If the schedule has not yet been activated, you will see a red notice that reads: "Your master schedule is not currently active..."
- Work through the grid and assign a caregiver to each care list cell (see the next section). Unassigned cells appear in light red; assigned cells appear in light blue.
- Once all care list cells have been assigned (or intentionally left unassigned), click Activate Schedule to make the schedule live.
Important: Activation is a permanent, one-time action per community. It also sets the current week as Week 1 of the rotation cycle. Hold off on clicking Activate Schedule until initial care list assignments are complete. Once activated, future changes must be made through the Reassign/Unassign flows or the Point-in-Time Schedule.
How To: Assign a Care List to a Caregiver (First-Time)
Use this flow when a care list cell on the Master Schedule has no caregiver assigned yet.
- Go to Master Schedule and select the community. Use the Week 1, Week 2, etc. tabs above the grid to navigate to the rotation week you want to configure.
- In the day cell for the care list that needs a caregiver, click ASSIGN TO.
- From the Select Caregiver dropdown, choose the staff member who should own this care list on this day.
- Click Done. The cell will change from light red (unassigned) to light blue (assigned) and display the caregiver’s name.
After saving:
Tip: Use the Show Filters bar above the grid to filter by With status: 1 or more days unassigned to quickly find cells that still need an owner.
How To: Reassign a Care List to a Different Caregiver
Use this flow when a care list already has an assigned caregiver and you need to hand it to someone else on the same shift.
Step 1: Reassign list
- From Master Schedule, locate the care list cell on the correct rotation week and click REASSIGN.
- The current caregiver is shown as read-only. Choose the new caregiver from the Reassign to dropdown (this list shows only staff already scheduled on the same week, day, and shift).
- Click OK, show impact of change.
Important: If the dropdown is empty, no other staff are scheduled on that shift. Add another staff member to the shift first by updating their Work Schedule, then return to reassign.
Step 2: Review impact on the Point-in-Time Schedule
ALIS will display one of two outcomes:
- No impact: If the current caregiver has no existing temporary assignments for this care list, the page will read: “There is no impact of this reassign...” Click Next Step to continue.
-
Existing assignments found: If temporary assignments exist, ALIS lists each affected day. For each row, choose:
- KEEP ASSIGNMENT: the temporary assignment stays with the current caregiver for that day.
- CANCEL ASSIGNMENT: the temporary assignment will be re-assigned to the new caregiver by default.
The Next Step button stays disabled until every row has a decision.
Step 3: Confirm and Save Reassignment
- Type REASSIGN (in capitals) into the confirmation box.
- Click Save Assignment Change.
Tip: After saving, check the Point-in-Time Schedule to confirm assignments transferred as expected.
How To: Unassign a Care List
Use this flow to remove a caregiver from a care list on the Master Schedule entirely. The cell will return to its unassigned state and will need a new Assign To at a later time.
The Unassign flow follows the same 3-step process as Reassign, with two differences:
- In Step 1, there is no replacement caregiver to select. You are simply confirming the removal.
- In Step 2, any rows where you choose CANCEL ASSIGNMENT will be permanently deleted from the Point-in-Time Schedule. There is no replacement caregiver to transfer them to.
Type UNASSIGN (in capitals) in the confirmation box and click Save Assignment Change to complete.
Saved Assignments
Once assignments are saved, you should see the care list cells update immediately on the Master Schedule grid (light blue = assigned, light red = unassigned).
Assignments appear across ALIS in the following places:
| Where | What you'll see |
|---|---|
| Master Schedule grid | Recurring weekly assignments with color-coded cells. |
| Point-in-Time Schedule | The recurring plan plus any day-by-day temporary changes. New Master Schedule changes take effect at the start of the next rotation period. |
| Care Tracking | Today's care view for the selected shift. Caregivers see only their assigned tasks by default. All tasks are visible if the user has View and Record All Care, if the Allow staff to view and record care assigned to other caregivers setting is on, or if staff assignments are turned off. |
Tip: Master Schedule reassignments and unassignments don't take effect mid-rotation on the Point-in-Time Schedule. Use Step 2 in the Reassign/Unassign workflows to decide what happens to any already-scheduled days in the current rotation.
Troubleshooting
The Assign To / Reassign / Unassign options are not visible on the Master Schedule.
Your security role may be missing the View and edit master schedule permission. Contact your Community Administrator or Company Administrator to update your role.
The Assign to/Reassign to dropdown is empty.
No other staff are scheduled on the same week, day, and shift as the caregiver being replaced. Update another staff member's Work Schedule on their profile, then return to reassign.
The schedule shows a red notice and PRN care cannot be scheduled.
The Master Schedule has not been activated yet. Complete all initial care list assignments and then click Activate Schedule. This is a one-time step per community.
A Master Schedule change isn't showing on the Point-in-Time Schedule yet.
Master Schedule changes take effect at the start of the next rotation period, not immediately. To make a same-day or near-term change, use the Point-in-Time Schedule directly.