For nursing students
Build a nursing concept map for your patient
A nursing concept map shows one patient: what's going wrong, the data that proves it, what you'll do about it and how you'll know it worked, all joined by arrows that say why. Here is how to build one from your clinical worksheet without losing a whole evening, with a finished heart failure example you can open and change.
Updated
The short answer
- Put the patient in the middle: age, admitting diagnosis and the one or two facts that matter most.
- Around it, add the pathophysiology, then the assessment data, labs and meds, each joined to what it explains.
- Pick your priority problems and number them. Oxygen and airway usually come first.
- Under each problem: the interventions, then a measurable outcome. Label every arrow.
What a nursing concept map is (and how it differs from a care plan)
A care plan is a table: diagnosis, goal, interventions, rationale, evaluation, one row after another. A concept map holds the same information but shows how it connects. The weak heart explains the crackles, the crackles explain the low oxygen, and the low oxygen explains why you raise the head of the bed. Your instructor reads the arrows to see whether you understand why each thing is on the page.
- One patient, not a disease. Use the numbers from your clinical day, not a textbook list of every possible symptom.
- Every arrow has words on it. "Shown by", "treats", "causes", "evaluated by". An arrow you can't label is a link you haven't worked out yet.
- Priorities are numbered. Most programmes expect the airway, breathing and circulation problems first.
Follow your school's template first
Programmes grade the format, and the boxes differ: some want nursing diagnoses in a set wording, some want a rationale on every intervention, some want a spider map with the patient in the centre. Use the layout below as a starting point and change it to match your rubric.
Build it from your clinical worksheet
- Patient card in the middle. Initials or a made-up name, age, admitting diagnosis, relevant history. Nothing that identifies the real person.
- Pathophysiology, in three or four cards. What is actually going wrong in the body, in your own words. These are the cards everything else hangs from.
- Assessment data next to what it proves. Group your vital signs and findings by problem (breathing data, fluid data) and join each group to the pathophysiology card it comes from.
- Labs and diagnostics. Write the value and the normal range on the card, then join it to the problem it confirms.
- Medications. One card per drug: the class and what you check before giving it. Join each one to the problem it treats. A med with no arrow is the first thing an instructor circles.
- Priority problems, numbered. Two to four is usually enough for one clinical day.
- Interventions and outcomes under each problem. Interventions you would actually do on your shift, then an outcome you can measure: a number, a time or something the patient can say or do.
- Check it before you hand it in. Read every arrow aloud as a sentence. If it doesn't make sense, fix the link or the card.
Doing it on cards instead of paper means you can drag a whole problem branch somewhere else when the map gets crowded, and the arrows follow the cards instead of being redrawn.
Worked example: a patient with heart failure
The ready board above is a teaching case, not a real patient. Mr. J is 72, has high blood pressure, and was admitted with acute left-sided heart failure. The facts come from OpenStax Medical-Surgical Nursing (12.3 Heart Failure) and Pharmacology for Nurses (19.5 Diuretics):
- Pathophysiology. The weak left ventricle can't push enough blood forward. Blood backs up into the lungs, and the kidneys get less blood, so they hold on to salt and water.
- Data. BNP 750 pg/mL (normal is under 100). Echo ejection fraction 35% (normal is 55 to 60%). Short of breath walking, sleeps on three pillows, crackles in both lung bases, SpO2 90% on room air. 2+ pitting edema in both ankles, up 5 lb this week.
- Medications. Metoprolol, a beta-blocker that lowers the heart's workload: check the pulse first. Lisinopril, an ACE inhibitor: watch blood pressure, potassium and a new dry cough. Furosemide, a loop diuretic that treats the fluid: watch intake and output, daily weight and potassium.
- Priority 1: not enough oxygen. High Fowler's position, oxygen as ordered, listen to the lungs every shift. Outcome: SpO2 92% or more, and he can wash and dress without getting short of breath.
- Priority 2: too much fluid. Daily weight at the same time, strict intake and output, teach sodium under 2 g a day. Outcome: edema 2+ or less, stable weight, and he can say his sodium and fluid limits.
- Priority 3: tires with activity. Cluster care and rest between activities. Outcome: walks to the bathroom with rest breaks and no dizziness.
The handwritten notes in the corner are the kind of questions that come up on a clinical day ("check K+ before Lasix?"). Keep them next to the map so they turn into cards or questions for your instructor instead of getting lost.
This is a study example, not medical advice
The case is simplified for learning how a concept map is built. Real orders, drug doses and hold parameters come from the provider and your facility's policies.
Handing it in
- As a link (easiest): share the board and your instructor can open it in a browser without an account, with every card, arrow and label as you left it.
- As an image: zoom out until the whole map fits on your screen and take a screenshot. For one part of the map, select those cards, choose Copy as image and paste it into your document.
- Not as Word or PDF: Instaboard doesn't export this kind of board to Word or PDF. If your programme only accepts its own Word template, a printable template is the simpler route.
When another tool fits better
- Your school gives you a fill-in template. Use theirs. Printable templates from Canva, Etsy or nursing sites suit programmes that grade on a fixed form.
- You want the layout done for you. Lucidchart, Creately and EdrawMind have nursing concept map templates and arrange shapes automatically. In Instaboard you place each card yourself.
- You want a generator. Instaboard has no AI and won't write diagnoses or a care plan for you. You choose every card and arrow, which is also what your instructor is grading.
Instaboard fits when you build a new map every clinical week: open the example again for a fresh board, swap in the new patient, keep your handwritten notes and photos of your worksheet beside the map, and open any problem into its own board when one card isn't enough room. For the biology behind a map, see how to make a biology concept map.
What to know before you start
- Free covers 5 boards and 150 cards and items across your account. Arrows, sections and pen strokes don't count toward the 150; the example map uses 23 cards.
- 3 images per board on Free. Enough for photos of your worksheet or notes; Pro has no image limit.
- Editing needs a free sign-in (Google, Apple or email). Viewing a shared link doesn't.
- No AI, no automatic layout, no Word or PDF export for concept maps. Never put real patient names or identifying details on any board.
Start from the ready board
It opens in your browser in a few seconds, with nothing to install. Sign in for free when you want to save it and share it.
Questions
What goes on a nursing concept map?
The patient and diagnosis in the centre, the pathophysiology, the assessment data and labs that show it, medications linked to the problems they treat, numbered priority problems, interventions for each problem, and measurable outcomes. Your school's template decides the exact boxes.
What is the difference between a nursing concept map and a care plan?
A care plan lists the same information in rows. A concept map shows how it connects, with labelled arrows from the disease to the data, the problems, the interventions and the outcomes, so the reasoning is visible.
How many nursing problems should a concept map have?
For one clinical day, two to four priority problems is usual. Number them, with airway, breathing and circulation first, unless your instructor asks for a set number.
Can I hand in an Instaboard concept map?
Yes, as a link or an image. Share the board link so your instructor can open it in a browser, or zoom out until the whole map fits and take a screenshot. There is no Word or PDF export for this kind of board, so if your school requires its own Word form, use that instead.
Is there a nursing concept map generator?
Instaboard isn't one: it has no AI and doesn't write diagnoses or interventions. It gives you cards and labelled arrows so building the map, which is the part you're graded on, goes faster.
Is Instaboard free?
Yes. The free plan includes 5 boards, 150 cards and items across your account (pen strokes, arrows and sections don't count), 3 images and 1 file per board, unlimited collaborators and video calls up to an hour. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99 a year), or $7.99 monthly, and the people you invite join free.
Sources
Related
Make a biology concept map from your own notes
Turn your lecture notes into a biology concept map: concepts on cards, labelled arrows, feedback loops and a recall check. Worked example on the HPA axis, a ready board to copy, and a nursing version.
How to export an Apple Freeform board (PDF, image or another app)
Every way to get a board out of Apple Freeform: Send a Copy, Export as PDF by board or scene, PNG and JPEG, printing on several pages, backing up all your boards, and what other apps can do with the file.