HOW TO PREPARE A NURSING CONCEPT MAP?

Attention all students registered in the nursing course! Do you have an assignment in which you have to prepare a concept map? Do you not know how to prepare a nursing concept map? Do you want to learn how can you prepare a nursing concept map to write your assignment answer? Here, you will get the answer to all questions.

Hi, I am your lecturer for today’s lecture on How To Prepare A Nursing Concept Map.

Let us all settle down real quick.

Note down what is a concept map.

A concept map is a schematic depiction of the visual knowledge in the form of a hierarchical graphic network. This network is made up of various nodes and links.

Be it any clinical environment, as a nurse, you should always be attentive and quick with crucial decisions. Therefore, the nursing courses are designed to develop thinking and judgement skills in you. And in this process, preparing a concept map is a strategy that is highly effective.

In preparing a concept map, you have to identify, display using visuals and connect key concepts by organising and analysing information.

Concept map is linked to critical thinking

You all know and understand that the nursing environment today has an explosive nature. Naturally, critical thinking is in high demand among the criteria for a registered nurse.

There are a number of researches that show the effectiveness of using concept mapping in nursing education. Concept mapping in the activities related to learning in healthcare is known to improve critical thinking. It also promotes the students to comprehensively examine their patients and process complex information in a simple way.

10 steps to prepare a nursing concept map

Step 1

Identify a primary question that is related to the problem or the issue in hand. Also, you have to make sure that the question is related to the knowledge domain that you are talking about.

Once the question is understood, rummage through the brain’s register. Identify 10-20 concepts and fundamentals that are related to the question.

I would suggest that you keep a pen and paper handy with you and note down the concepts as they come to your mind.

Step 2

Have you written down the concepts? Good. Now rank them. Identify their importance with respect to the question at hand and arrange them accordingly. Remember, the broadest concept should be at the top of the map.

If you are not able to think of proper ranks for the concept, take a moment and reflect on the question. A little modification of the question as your understanding is allowed.

Step 3

Work your way down from the top of the list to the lowest. And do not be afraid to add more concepts, if needed. There is no limit that you have to write only 20 concepts.

Step 4

Now you may begin preparing your map. First, place the most inclusive and general concept at the top. For example, person-centred nursing is a broad and inclusive concept. Place it on the top and then work your way down to ethics and morals defining person-centred care.

You get my point, right?

Step 5

When you have a couple of general topics at the top, you now start placing the sub-concepts under them. Like the example above, Person Centred Care is a general concept. The sub-concepts may be the 4 founding principles of person-centred care.