A nursing concept map is a diagram of how one patient's assessment data, nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes connect. The patient's main health problem sits in the center, the nursing diagnoses branch out from it, and each branch links the supporting data to the goals and nursing actions that address it. Concept map nursing assignments ask you to show your clinical reasoning as a picture instead of a list, so the instructor can see why each intervention belongs there.
This guide explains the parts of a concept map, how to build one in five steps, and three worked examples (pneumonia, hypertension and type 2 diabetes). All patients are hypothetical.
Concept maps come from education research, not nursing. Joseph Novak and his team at Cornell University developed them, and the paper by Novak and Cañas on the theory underlying concept maps sets out the core rules. Concepts sit in boxes, lines join related concepts, and each line carries linking words that turn the two concepts into a meaningful statement, or proposition. Every map answers a focus question, and good maps also include cross-links between different parts of the map.
Nursing education adapted the method for care planning, where it supports the diagnosis and planning phases of the nursing process. Instead of general concepts, a nursing concept map uses one patient's data, and the focus question becomes something like "What are this patient's priority problems today, and what will I do about them?" A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in BMC Medical Education pooled 44 studies and found that groups taught with concept maps scored higher on educational performance than comparison groups. The authors also noted that the benefit appeared larger for nursing students than for working nurses, though that difference was not statistically significant.
| Format | Structure | What It Shows Best |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing concept map | A web of boxes with labeled links and cross-links, built around one patient | How problems relate to each other, and why each action fits the data |
| Nursing care plan | A table organized by nursing diagnosis | Detailed outcomes, interventions, rationales and evaluation for each problem |
| Mind map | A single topic with radiating branches, usually without labeled links | Brainstorming and note-taking on a topic |
Many programs ask for both: a concept map to show the big picture, and a care plan table for the priority diagnoses. If you need the table format, see our guide on how to write a nursing care plan.
| Part | What It Contains | Example (Pneumonia) |
|---|---|---|
| Central concept | The reason for care: medical diagnosis or chief complaint, with brief patient details | 68-year-old admitted with community-acquired pneumonia |
| Assessment data | Subjective and objective findings, labs, imaging, medications, history | Crackles in the right lower lobe, SpO2 90% on room air, temperature 38.7 °C |
| Nursing diagnoses | Current labels from NANDA-I or your program's list, each supported by data | Ineffective airway clearance; Impaired gas exchange |
| Outcomes | A measurable goal for each diagnosis | SpO2 at or above the ordered target on room air by discharge |
| Interventions and rationales | Nursing actions, each with a reason | Elevate the head of the bed to ease breathing |
| Links and linking words | Lines with a word or phrase that names the relationship | Pneumonia "leads to" thick secretions |
| Cross-links | Connections between separate branches | Fever "increases" fluid loss, which "thickens" secretions |
| Evaluation | Whether each outcome was met, and what changes | Goal partly met; continue the plan and reassess in 24 hours |
Novak and Cañas suggest identifying the key concepts first, placing them in a "parking lot" list until you know where they fit, and expecting to revise a map several times. Applied to a nursing concept map, the process has five steps.
Start with a complete set of data: the health history, your physical assessment, vital signs, labs, imaging, medications and what the patient tells you. A systematic head-to-toe assessment makes this step easier. Then group findings that seem to belong together. Crackles, a productive cough and thick sputum form one cluster; low saturation, fast breathing and breathlessness form another. These clusters become your diagnoses.
Put the medical diagnosis or reason for admission in the center, with the patient's age and any key history. Write your focus question at the top of the page. Every box you add should help answer it.
Turn each cluster into a nursing diagnosis, using current labels. Our guides to common nursing diagnoses and nursing diagnosis examples explain how to choose a label and write the related factors and defining characteristics. Number the diagnoses by priority. Airway, breathing and circulation problems come first, then other physiological needs, then safety, then psychosocial needs. Actual problems usually rank above risk diagnoses unless the risk is immediate.
Under each diagnosis, write one or two measurable outcomes and three to five interventions. Each intervention needs a rationale, either on the map or in an attached table if space is tight. Include assessment interventions (what you will monitor), therapeutic interventions (what you will do) and teaching.
Connect boxes with lines and write a linking word or phrase on each one, such as "causes," "is evidenced by," "worsens" or "is treated by." Then look for cross-links between branches. A map with good cross-links shows that you see the patient as a whole, not as a list of separate problems. After your shift, add an evaluation to each diagnosis and revise the map.
This example is for a hypothetical 68-year-old patient admitted with community-acquired pneumonia in the right lower lobe. On assessment: temperature 38.7 °C, heart rate 108, respiratory rate 26, SpO2 90% on room air, crackles in the right lower lobe, a productive cough with thick yellow sputum, warm and flushed skin, shortness of breath when walking to the bathroom, dry mucous membranes and poor oral intake.
The map has four nursing diagnoses, numbered by priority:
Two cross-links tie the branches together. Fever increases fluid loss, which makes secretions thicker and harder to clear, so encouraging fluids helps both the hyperthermia branch and the airway branch. Low oxygen levels limit activity, so oxygen and rest periods support both gas exchange and activity tolerance. These are the connections instructors look for, because they show reasoning a list cannot.
Here are the two priority diagnoses expanded into a care plan table, which many programs ask you to attach to the map.
| Nursing Diagnosis | Expected Outcomes (SMART) | Nursing Interventions | Rationale | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ineffective airway clearance related to thick, retained secretions, as evidenced by crackles in the right lower lobe and a productive cough with thick yellow sputum | Within 48 hours, the patient will cough up secretions without help and have fewer crackles in the right lower lobe on auscultation. | 1. Assess lung sounds, cough and sputum every 4 hours and as needed. 2. Position with the head of the bed elevated. 3. Teach and coach deep breathing, coughing and incentive spirometer use as ordered. 4. Encourage oral fluids unless restricted. 5. Give prescribed antibiotics on schedule. | 1. Tracks whether secretions are clearing or worsening. 2. Upright positioning improves lung expansion. 3. Deep breaths and effective coughs move secretions up the airways. 4. Adequate hydration helps keep secretions thin. 5. Treats the infection that is producing the secretions. | Goal partly met at 48 hours: cough productive and effective; crackles still present at the right base. Continue plan; reassess daily. |
| Impaired gas exchange associated with ventilation-perfusion imbalance from pneumonia, as evidenced by SpO2 90% on room air, respiratory rate 26 and shortness of breath | Within 24 hours, the patient will maintain SpO2 at or above the ordered target with a respiratory rate of 12 to 20 at rest. | 1. Monitor SpO2, respiratory rate, work of breathing and mental status at the ordered frequency. 2. Give oxygen as ordered and adjust within the ordered range. 3. Cluster care and plan rest periods. 4. Report a falling SpO2, rising work of breathing or new confusion right away. | 1. Detects early deterioration; confusion can be a sign of low oxygen. 2. Supplemental oxygen raises arterial oxygen levels. 3. Reduces oxygen demand. 4. Allows prompt escalation, including the rapid response team when criteria are met. | Goal met at 24 hours: SpO2 within target on 2 liters by nasal cannula, respiratory rate 18 at rest. Continue plan and begin weaning oxygen as ordered. |
This hypothetical 56-year-old patient attends a clinic follow-up. Office blood pressure is 152/96 mm Hg, which falls in stage 2 hypertension under the 2025 AHA/ACC blood pressure guideline. The patient reports missing medication doses "when I feel fine," eats takeout most days and is unsure what the readings on a home monitor mean. Laid out as a map, it looks like this:
For the full set of diagnoses, outcomes and rationales for this condition, see our hypertension nursing care plan.
This hypothetical 61-year-old patient is admitted with a foot wound and blood glucose readings that have been running high at home. The patient checks glucose "a few times a week" and reports numbness in both feet.
Our guide to nursing diagnosis for type 2 diabetes goes further into the diagnoses for this condition.
Instructors grading a concept map for nursing students usually look for the same things: diagnoses supported by data, labeled links and a clear order of priority.
Concept maps are often graded on reasoning, which is hard to judge in your own work. If you want feedback on whether your diagnoses are supported, your links make sense or your care plan table matches your map, our nursing homework help service offers tutoring and draft review. Use any outside help in line with your school's academic integrity policy.
Usually the patient's medical diagnosis or reason for admission, with age and key history. Some programs put the priority nursing diagnosis in the center instead, so check your template.
Most student maps include three to five, numbered by priority. Including every possible diagnosis makes the map harder to read and the reasoning harder to follow.
A concept map shows how the patient's problems connect, using boxes and labeled links. A care plan is a table that sets out the outcomes, interventions, rationales and evaluation for each diagnosis in detail.
Most nursing programs require a rationale for each intervention, either on the map or in an attached table. Check your rubric.
Yes. Free tools such as CmapTools, or any diagram program, work well and make revisions easier. Hand-drawn maps are fine if your instructor accepts them.
Cross-links connect boxes in different branches, for example showing that a fever makes secretions thicker. They show that you see how the patient's problems affect each other.
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