Nursing care
Nursing concept map: a template you can copy and one worked example
Written and reviewed by Nicole Ramirez, BSN, RN, CMSRN · 5 min read · Updated November 2026
Short answer
A nursing concept map is a diagram of one client's care: the main health problem sits at the center or top, linked to clustered assessment cues, nursing diagnoses, goals, interventions and evaluation. What sets it apart from a table care plan is the labeled lines showing how one problem causes or worsens another, and that is what instructors grade.
What goes in a nursing concept map
Concept maps come from education research. Novak and Cañas describe them as boxes holding concepts, joined by lines with linking words, so each pair reads as a short statement. They recommend building a map around a focus question and adding cross-links between branches, because those links show real understanding.
| Map part | What to write | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Focus question | What is happening with this client today? | Keeps the map to one shift or one admission |
| Central concept | Reason for care and a one-line pathophysiology | A medical diagnosis can sit here, not in a nursing diagnosis box |
| Assessment clusters | Grouped subjective and objective cues | Group cues by pattern, not by body system order |
| Nursing diagnosis boxes | Problem, related factor, as evidenced by | Two to four, ranked by priority |
| Linking lines | A verb on each line: causes, worsens, is evidenced by | A line without words shows no reasoning |
| Goal | Measurable outcome with a time frame | Client-centered: the client will... |
| Interventions and rationale | Nursing actions with a reason for each | Tie each action to a related factor |
| Evaluation | Met, partly met or not met, with data | Compare against the goal's measure |
Open RN notes that care plans in nursing school come in several formats, including concept maps and tables, and that the components do not change between them. A map just shows the connections that a table hides.
Filled-in example for a hypothetical client
Hypothetical client for practice: a 78-year-old admitted with a heart failure exacerbation. Cues include bibasilar crackles, 2+ ankle edema, weight above home baseline, shortness of breath walking to the bathroom, and an unsteady gait with frequent nighttime voiding.
| Box | What the student wrote |
|---|---|
| Central concept | Heart failure exacerbation: weak pump leads to fluid backing up into lungs and tissues |
| Diagnosis 1 (priority) | Excess fluid volume related to reduced cardiac pumping, as evidenced by crackles, edema and weight gain |
| Diagnosis 2 | Decreased activity tolerance related to fluid in the lungs, as evidenced by breathlessness on walking |
| Diagnosis 3 | Risk for adult falls, as evidenced by unsteady gait and frequent night voiding |
| Cross-link | Excess fluid volume worsens activity tolerance; diuresis increases night voiding, which raises fall risk |
| Goal for diagnosis 1 | Client's lungs sound clearer and weight trends toward baseline within 48 hours |
| Interventions | Daily weight same time and scale, intake and output, lung sounds every shift, head of bed raised |
| Evaluation | Day 2: crackles reduced, weight down from admission, goal partly met |
The cross-link row is what earns the marks. A table care plan would list three separate problems; the map shows they share a cause and that treating the fluid creates a new fall risk at night.
How to make a nursing concept map, step by step
Start with all assessment data on one page, then circle cues that belong together. Open RN describes this clustering as the step where the nurse spots patterns and forms hypotheses, often using Gordon's functional health patterns. Each cluster becomes a candidate nursing diagnosis.
Put the reason for admission in the center, draw the diagnoses around it, and label every line. Rank the diagnoses using airway, breathing, circulation and safety. Add a measurable goal with a time frame to each, then interventions that target the related factor, then evaluation once you have new data.
Concept map vs care plan
Both contain the same parts: assessment, diagnosis, outcomes, interventions, rationale and evaluation. A table care plan runs each diagnosis in its own row, which suits documentation. A concept map puts everything in one picture so relationships between problems are visible, which suits learning and clinical reasoning.
That reasoning is what the exam rewards. Open RN states that the NCLEX does not test knowledge of specific NANDA-I diagnosis labels, but it does test analyzing cues, clustering data and prioritizing hypotheses. A good map is practice for exactly that.
Mistakes instructors mark down
Placing a medical diagnosis such as heart failure in a nursing diagnosis box is a common error; Open RN explains it falls outside the nurse's scope to diagnose. Related factors also need to be things nursing actions can change, or the interventions have nothing to aim at.
Other common deductions: lines with no linking words, raw data dumped without clustering, goals with no number or time frame, interventions copied from medical orders with no nursing action, every diagnosis treated as equal priority, and an evaluation box that restates the goal without new data.
Sources and further reading
Novak and Cañas (IHMC): The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. Concepts in boxes, linking words, propositions, hierarchy, focus question and cross-links.
Open RN Nursing Fundamentals 2e: 4.4 Diagnosis. Clustering cues with Gordon's patterns, statement components, medical vs nursing diagnosis, related factors modifiable by nursing, NCLEX not testing specific NANDA-I labels.
Open RN Nursing Fundamentals 2e: 4.6 Planning. Care plans in nursing school take formats such as concept maps or tables.
Open RN Nursing Fundamentals 2e: 4.5 Outcome Identification. Expected outcomes documented as measurable goals with a time frame.
The next step on this is the same as on everything else here: answer questions and read the rationales. Our fundamentals practice questions are the closest set to what this page covers.
Common questions
How do you make a nursing concept map?
Gather all assessment data, cluster related cues, and turn each cluster into a nursing diagnosis. Place the reason for care in the center, link the diagnoses with labeled lines, rank them, then add a measurable goal, interventions with rationale, and evaluation for each.
What goes in a nursing concept map?
A central concept, clustered assessment cues, two to four ranked nursing diagnoses, labeled linking lines and cross-links, a measurable goal per diagnosis, nursing interventions with rationale, and evaluation based on new data.
What is the difference between a concept map and a care plan?
They hold the same components. A care plan table lists each diagnosis separately; a concept map is a diagram that shows how problems relate, such as one diagnosis worsening another. Many programs accept either format.
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