Nursing concept mapping is a graphical tool for defining patient issues, organizing assessment results, selecting relevant diagnoses and procedures, and assessing outcomes. Nursing students can effectively and efficiently devise strategies using the services and tools of this concept map.
Nursing concept maps can be analyzed as the following four types:
- Spider maps are the one that expands outwardly with sub-themes grouped around the element.
- Hierarchical maps are the ones that include essential information at the top of the map and group the information according to the order of importance.
- Flow charts are the maps that produce details as flow schemes.
- System maps organize flow charts-like model maps details. The maps contain inputs and outputs in addition to flow diagrams forms.
In the above nursing concept mapping example, we are looking into the – ‘Nursing Management for Dextroamphetamine Therapy.’ Here the concept map is divided into decision making, doing, and assessment. It covers the core concepts of this therapy from idea conception to evaluation. The concept map helps provide an overview of dextroamphetamine therapy and its processes.
Decision making covers key areas like – Nursing diagnosis, ethical or legal issues, reproductive factors, and economic factors. The concept map also emphasizes the importance of pre-assessment tests.