Flag Student Vaccination Status
As a school nurse, I need a quick way to identify students whose 'Vaccination Date' is missing in my records. If the date is empty, I want to automatically flag them as 'Action Required' so I can follow up with their parents or guardians. Otherwise, they should be marked as 'Vaccinated'.
=IF(B2="", "Action Required", "Vaccinated") How it works: This IF function checks a condition: `B2=""`. This condition evaluates to TRUE if cell B2 (the 'Vaccination Date' for the first student) is empty, and FALSE if it contains any value (like a date). If the condition is TRUE (date is empty), the formula returns "Action Required". If the condition is FALSE (date is present), it returns "Vaccinated". This allows for immediate visual identification of students who need follow-up regarding their vaccination status.
Data Setup
| Student Name | Vaccination Date | Vaccination Status |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Smith | 1/15/2023 | |
| Bob Johnson | ||
| Charlie Brown | 2/10/2023 | |
| Diana Prince |
Step-by-Step Guide
Open your student vaccination record spreadsheet in Excel.
Navigate to the first cell in the 'Vaccination Status' column (e.g., C2), next to the first student's 'Vaccination Date'.
Enter the formula: `=IF(B2="", "Action Required", "Vaccinated")` (assuming 'Vaccination Date' is in column B, starting from row 2).
Press Enter to apply the formula to the first student.
Click on cell C2 again, then drag the fill handle (the small square at the bottom-right corner of the cell) down to apply the formula to all other students in your list.