Assignment Management Overview

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An assignment in HCSS Events Platform is the record that links a caregiver to a specific facility, unit, specialty, and shift for a strike event. Assignments are the operational core of event staffing -- they define where each caregiver works, when they work, and in what capacity.

What Is an Assignment?

An assignment answers four key questions for each caregiver at an event:

Question	Assignment Field	Example
Where?	Facility and Unit	Memorial Hospital, ICU
What role?	Specialty	RN (Registered Nurse)
When?	Shift Type and Dates	Day shift, Feb 15 -- Feb 22
Who?	Caregiver	Jane Smith (BlueSky ID: 12345)

Assignment vs. Candidate

It is important to understand the distinction between an assignment and a candidate:

Concept	Purpose
Candidate	Tracks a caregiver's participation status in an event (Imported, Contacted, Confirmed, etc.). Focused on the recruitment pipeline.
Assignment	Defines the specific work placement for a caregiver at an event. Focused on operational scheduling.

A candidate must be in Confirmed status (or later) before an assignment can be created for them. One candidate can have multiple assignments within the same event (e.g., different units or shift rotations).

Assignment Lifecycle

Assignments progress through the following statuses:

Status	Description
Draft	Assignment has been created but not yet finalized. Can be freely edited or deleted.
Scheduled	Assignment has been confirmed and the caregiver has been notified. The caregiver is expected to work as assigned.
Active	The assignment's start date has arrived and the caregiver is currently working this assignment.
Completed	The assignment's end date has passed and all shift data has been finalized.
Cancelled	The assignment has been cancelled before or during the event. A cancellation reason is required.

Status Transitions

Draft --> Scheduled --> Active --> Completed
  |          |           |
  v          v           v
Cancelled  Cancelled   Cancelled

Assignment Components

Facility

The hospital or healthcare facility where the caregiver will work. Facilities are configured at the event level and represent the client locations requiring strike staffing.

Unit

The specific department or floor within a facility. Common units include:

Unit	Description
ICU	Intensive Care Unit
Med/Surg	Medical-Surgical
ER	Emergency Room
L&D	Labor and Delivery
NICU	Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
OR	Operating Room
Tele	Telemetry
Psych	Psychiatric
Rehab	Rehabilitation
Float	Floats between units as needed

Specialty

The clinical role the caregiver will fill. This is typically their primary specialty but can differ (e.g., an RN with ICU experience assigned to a Med/Surg unit).

Shift Type

The work schedule for the assignment:

Shift Type	Typical Hours	Description
Day	7:00 AM -- 7:00 PM	Standard 12-hour day shift.
Night	7:00 PM -- 7:00 AM	Standard 12-hour night shift.
Evening	3:00 PM -- 11:00 PM	8-hour evening shift.
Rotating	Varies	Alternating between day and night shifts.

Dates

Each assignment has a start date and end date defining the period the caregiver is expected to work. Dates must fall within the event's date range.

The Assignment Board

The assignment board is the primary interface for viewing and managing assignments. It is accessible from the event's Assignments tab.

Board Views

The assignment board supports multiple views:

View	Description	Best For
List View	Traditional table with sortable columns.	Searching, filtering, and bulk operations.
Calendar View	Calendar grid showing assignments by date.	Visualizing coverage across dates.
Unit View	Grouped by facility and unit, showing assigned caregivers.	Identifying gaps in unit coverage.
Caregiver View	Grouped by caregiver, showing all their assignments.	Reviewing individual workloads.

Assignment List Columns

In list view, the following columns are displayed:

Column	Description
Caregiver	Name and BlueSky ID of the assigned caregiver.
Facility	Assigned facility name.
Unit	Assigned unit/department.
Specialty	Clinical specialty for this assignment.
Shift	Day, Night, Evening, or Rotating.
Start Date	Assignment start date.
End Date	Assignment end date.
Status	Draft, Scheduled, Active, Completed, or Cancelled.
Hours	Total scheduled hours for the assignment.

Role-Based Access

Action	Admin	Scheduler	Supervisor	Leadership
View assignments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create assignments	Yes	Yes	No	No
Edit assignments	Yes	Yes	No	No
Cancel assignments	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bulk operations	Yes	Yes	No	No
View work tracking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage work tracking	Yes	Yes	No	No

Staffing Requirements

Each event defines staffing requirements per facility, unit, specialty, and shift. The assignment board displays these requirements alongside actual assignments to help schedulers identify coverage gaps.

Requirements vs. Assignments

Metric	Description
Required	The number of caregivers needed for a specific facility/unit/specialty/shift combination. Defined during event setup.
Assigned	The number of caregivers currently assigned (Draft + Scheduled + Active).
Gap	Required minus Assigned. Positive values indicate understaffing.
Fill Rate	Assigned divided by Required, expressed as a percentage.

The assignment board color-codes the fill rate:

Fill Rate	Color	Meaning
100%+	Green	Fully staffed or overstaffed.
80% -- 99%	Yellow	Nearly staffed, minor gaps.
Below 80%	Red	Significant staffing gaps.

Next Steps

• Creating Assignments -- How to create assignments manually and via CSV import.
• Managing Assignments -- Editing, reassigning, and cancelling assignments.
• Work Tracking -- Tracking hours worked, shift logs, and timesheets.