How to Make a Nursing Concept Map

A nursing concept map is a visual diagram that connects a patient's main problem to the supporting assessment data, nursing diagnoses, interventions, and expected outcomes, so you can see how everything links together. It's a visual companion to the care plan — the same clinical reasoning, laid out so the connections between pieces are easy to see at a glance instead of buried in a table.

What goes on a nursing concept map

• The central problem or medical diagnosis — usually a box in the middle of the page
• Assessment data and cues that support that problem
• Nursing diagnoses drawn from those cues
• Interventions tied to each nursing diagnosis
• Expected outcomes for each diagnosis
• Lines or arrows showing how the pieces relate to one another

How to make one, step by step

1. Put the patient's primary problem in the center. This is usually the medical diagnosis or the main reason for admission.
2. Branch out the key assessment data. List the subjective and objective findings — vital signs, labs, symptoms, patient statements — that relate to that central problem.
3. Add the nursing diagnoses those findings support. Each cluster of assessment data should point to at least one nursing diagnosis.
4. Connect interventions to each diagnosis. Branch the specific nursing actions off the diagnosis they address.
5. Add the expected outcome. Attach the measurable goal you expect the interventions to achieve.
6. Draw arrows to show relationships. Use lines or arrows between boxes that influence each other, even across different diagnoses — this is what makes a concept map more useful than a list.

A simple example structure

Here's a simplified concept map for a patient admitted with heart failure:

• Center: Heart failure (primary problem)
  • Nursing diagnosis: Excess fluid volume
    • Supporting data: crackles in lungs, 3+ pitting edema, weight gain of 4 lb in two days
    • Intervention: daily weights, strict intake and output, elevate legs when sitting
    • Expected outcome: patient's weight returns to baseline and edema decreases within 3 days
  • Nursing diagnosis: Activity intolerance
    • Supporting data: shortness of breath with minimal exertion, fatigue
    • Intervention: pace activities, schedule rest periods, monitor oxygen saturation with exertion
    • Expected outcome: patient completes morning care with no more than mild shortness of breath

An arrow between the two diagnoses would show that reducing fluid volume also tends to improve activity tolerance — that's the kind of connection a plain list or table doesn't make visible.

Concept map vs care plan

A care plan is typically written in a linear, columnar format: assessment, diagnosis, goals, interventions, and evaluation, read top to bottom. A concept map holds the same information but arranges it visually around the patient's central problem, with lines showing how each piece connects to the others. Many instructors ask for a concept map specifically because it forces you to show your reasoning, not just list it.

For the full write-up of each section, see how to write a nursing care plan. If you need help choosing the right diagnosis for your map, browse the nursing diagnosis reference, or look at worked care plan examples for conditions like the one above.