Settings › Notifications controls what Task notifications each staff member receives and how they arrive. Staff configure their own preferences here: push on the current device, text message delivery, a master switch, a per-facility toggle, the locations they cover, and the Task Types they want to be notified about.
Each staff member manages their own settings here. The Management and Notifications Admin roles can also turn another staff member’s notifications on or off from the Team page.
For Staffing-based Task Types, notification status directly affects patient availability. A Staffing-based request is available to patients only while at least one staff member or shared device at that location has notifications on. See Manage Shared Devices for Ward and Unit Phones.
A guided tour for notification setup is available directly in Care Team.
Confirming Notification Status
Notification status is visible in two places without going into Settings.
Notifications status: the bell icon in the left sidebar. Hover or click it to open the Notifications panel, which displays whether facility requests are currently live and whether personal notifications are on. Both displaying green means coverage is active. The panel also lists the locations and Task Types covered, and under Delivered by, whether alerts arrive by push, text message, or both.
The Notifications status in the left sidebar, with both Facility and Mine green
Tasks queue pill: the pill in the top-right corner of the Tasks queue displays the number of locations and Task Types currently active for the signed-in staff member (for example, "My notifications on: 2 locations · Environmental Services +1"). If it reads My notifications off, Staffing-based tasks may be unavailable to patients at those locations.
The My notifications on pill in the top right of the Tasks queue
How Notifications Work
Notifications fire when a request matches both a selected location and a selected Task Type. So if Emergency Department is selected but "Pain Management" is not, no alerts arrive for pain requests in the ED, even though both exist.
This is how alerts are tuned to a role. Each staff member receives only the requests that matter to them, not every request.
A Task Type only counts where it runs. If none of the selected Task Types are offered at any of the selected locations, the change is not saved, and Care Team asks for a location those Task Types cover.
How Alerts Are Delivered
Alerts go out as push notifications first. Two cards at the top of Settings › Notifications control delivery.
Push on this device: turns on push for the browser or phone in use. Push is set separately on each device. On iPhone and iPad, push works only from the Home Screen app.
Text messages: choose Only if push fails (recommended), which texts only when no device receives the push, or Every alert, which texts every time as well as push. This choice applies to all facilities. Until a choice is made, every alert is also texted.
No push devices: until push is turned on somewhere, every alert arrives as a text.
The Push on this device and Text messages cards
Texts go to the mobile number set under Settings › Profile, one number per staff member. It must be a US mobile number that can receive texts. Hospital devices such as Vocera or Ascom badges, desk phones and landlines are rejected. Without a number, alerts arrive by push only.
Turning Notifications On
There are two ways to set up or update notification preferences.
From the Notifications panel
The Notifications panel opens from the bell icon in the left sidebar, or from the My notifications pill in the top-right corner of the Tasks queue.
Both open the same panel. From there, toggle My notifications on, and use Manage locations & task types to update location and Task Type selections without leaving the Tasks queue.
The Notifications panel, with facility status and the My notifications toggle
From Settings › Notifications
Go to Settings › Notifications.
Confirm All my notifications is toggled On. This is the master switch. Turning it off disables all notifications across every facility without clearing individual selections.
Confirm the Notifications toggle beside the facility name is On.
Under My locations, select every location to receive notifications for.
Under My task types, select every Task Type to be notified about.
At least one location and at least one Task Type must be selected for notifications to fire. Until both are chosen, the toggles stay disabled.
My locations and My task types, both of which need a selection
My locations: Location chips appear under each facility. Selecting a chip means the staff member is notified about requests raised at that location. Chips with a checkmark are active. The heading displays how many are selected.
My task types: Task Type chips control which categories of patient requests trigger a notification. A staff member must have at least one location and at least one Task Type selected for notifications to fire.
Last subscriber warning: if a change would leave a Task Type and location with no one else set up to receive alerts, an amber warning lists what is affected. The change still saves.
Common Scenarios
On shift in the ED but covering multiple units.
Select all locations being covered under My locations, and only the Task Types relevant to the role under My task types. Notifications fire for those Task Types across all selected locations.
Handling one request type only.
Select locations under My locations, then select only the relevant Task Type under My task types. Notifications fire only for that request type, not others.
Going off-duty.
Toggle off All my notifications, from the Notifications panel or from Settings › Notifications. All location and Task Type selections are preserved. Toggle back on and subscriptions are exactly as they were.
FAQs
Texts are not arriving.
Check the Text messages setting. With Only if push fails, no text is sent when any device receives the push.
Check Push on this device on each device in use. A device with push on receives the alert there instead of by text.
Confirm a mobile number is set under Settings › Profile. Without one, alerts arrive by push only.
Confirm the master switch, the facility toggle, and at least one location and one Task Type are selected.
Notifications are on but alerts are not arriving.
Confirm the master switch (All my notifications) is On.
Confirm the facility toggle is On.
Confirm at least one location chip is selected under My locations.
Confirm at least one Task Type chip is selected under My task types.
Check Push on this device on each device in use. If the browser blocks notifications, allow them in the browser or device settings, then retry.
If texts are expected, confirm a mobile number is set under Settings › Profile. With Only if push fails, no text is sent when push arrives.
If all of these are correct, contact Vital support. The staff member may have a delivery issue that requires investigation.
A Task Type chip on the Team page has no location count.
This means the staff member is subscribed to that Task Type but has no locations selected, and the row reads No locations selected. They are not providing active coverage. Direct them to Settings › Notifications to select locations.
Turning notifications off temporarily.
Use the All my notifications master toggle to turn off all notifications at once. Individual location and Task Type selections are preserved and reactivate when the toggle is turned back on.
Why are alerts not firing for a specific request type?
Confirm that both a location and a Task Type are selected. Notifications require both. Selecting "Emergency Department" with no Task Type selected does not generate any alerts, even from the ED.