Great at care plans, suck at concept maps.

DawnJ · Sep 13, 2012

I'm new to this as well, but have gotten good marks on my concept maps. We put the main diagnosis or reason for visit in the center, then nursing diagnosis in branching boxes. Off the nursing diagnosis comes interventions and then goals off that.

SentimentalGeek, ADN, RN · Sep 13, 2012

That's helpful, thank you!

elementguy13 · Sep 13, 2012

IMHO concept maps seem very unprofessional. And correct me if I am wrong, will never be used in the real world. Its a mess of boxes and circles.. it felt so unorganized. The only benefit of a concept map to me is that it can have more than one diagnosis versus having separate care plans for each diagnosis. As a nurse I would NOT want to look at a concept map that another nurse wrote. Its a waste of time deciphering it.

IndyElmer · Sep 13, 2012

Whether or not it's "mess of boxes & circles" depends on how your instructor requires you to do the concept map. The ones required by my instructors are not as crazy looking as some that I've seen. Ours have the reason for visit/care in the center, then nursing diagnosis in surrounding boxes. As part of the nursing diagnosis box, we have to include all that stuff that other instructors have you put in even more boxes/circles within the SAME diagnosis box (and in a particular order). The concept maps as we're required to do them, don't seem at all like the visual "big picture" aid that they were intended (and often fail) to be for other students/programs.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2012

I've seen some crazy looking care maps....yes they have the same information. I don't like them because they appear disorganized to my OCD anal retentive brain.

http://faculty.ucc.edu/nursing-villanueva/Med-Surg Concept Map example.pdf

You may find this resource helpful. Concept Mapping

SentimentalGeek, ADN, RN · Sep 14, 2012

IMHO concept maps seem very unprofessional. And correct me if I am wrong, will never be used in the real world. Its a mess of boxes and circles.. it felt so unorganized. The only benefit of a concept map to me is that it can have more than one diagnosis versus having separate care plans for each diagnosis. As a nurse I would NOT want to look at a concept map that another nurse wrote. Its a waste of time deciphering it.

This is exactly how I feel. My brain doesn't work this way (OCD and anal-retentive very much describes my brain too!) and I'd never do this in real life - it seems like such a mess and I'm spending so much time trying to figure out how to do it that I could have easily just written 5 care plans by now. I'd never want anyone to base care on a concept map I have done or vice versa, it seems like there is way too much potential for misunderstanding or misreading when there are dozens of arrows pointing in every direction. And it seems like my instructor feels "the messier the better". I suppose if certain people's minds work that way then it's probably helpful for them, but it's just not for me. *Gives concept maps the evil eye*

Thank you so much for the link Esme12, that looks like it will help a lot.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2012

They are very helpful for some brains. I had my kid (IQ >140, brilliant at science and math, could explain anything to anyone, but couldn't write a comprehensive paragraph to save his soul) eval'd by a learning specialist, and she taught him how to do concept mapping and said MIT is full of kids like him. Now he's a nuclear engineer. Really.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 14, 2012

The concept maps that you do as a student are not meant to be used at the bedside -- just like the 15 page care plans that my generation had to do in school have never been considered practical for bedside use. Those types of concept maps (and/or care plans) are used to help students improve their thinking processes -- not to help experienced nurses give care on a daily basis. Concept maps help students to see (literally "see") how different pieces of the puzzle fit together when everything is not linear. Traditional care plans force everything into a linear format that doesn't always reflect reality and may involve a lot of duplication as details overlap and involve multiple relationships. Care maps seem "messier" because they better reflect real-world conditions -- that are rarely need and tidy.

Concept maps can be very useful in the real world when you are designing and/or evaluating programs -- mapping out how multiple services will be delivered to patients, how multiple topics will be delivered within an educational program, etc. Nurses responsible for such things "sketch out" their ideas all the time.

SentimentalGeek, ADN, RN · Sep 14, 2012

Thanks for those comments explaining them a bit more in depth. Your descriptions and reasoning make sense to me and just might be what I have needed to hear all along to make it click. We haven't had them explained that way (or any way, really). I find it difficult to do things just for the sake of doing them, especially if I don't feel like I'm actually gaining anything from it.

The story about your son is interesting, GrnTea. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I have always scored highly on standardized exams and spent most of my pre-college years in "gifted" programs at school. I scored in the 99th percentile on my ATI critical thinking test. Not being able to make this make sense to me has been driving me bonkers. Funny how different little things can still trip people up. :)

okonrad · Sep 15, 2012

The concept maps that you do as a student are not meant to be used at the bedside -- just like the 15 page care plans that my generation had to do in school have never been considered practical for bedside use. Those types of concept maps (and/or care plans) are used to help students improve their thinking processes -- not to help experienced nurses give care on a daily basis. Concept maps help students to see (literally "see") how different pieces of the puzzle fit together when everything is not linear. Traditional care plans force everything into a linear format that doesn't always reflect reality and may involve a lot of duplication as details overlap and involve multiple relationships. Care maps seem "messier" because they better reflect real-world conditions -- that are rarely need and tidy.
Concept maps can be very useful in the real world when you are designing and/or evaluating programs -- mapping out how multiple services will be delivered to patients, how multiple topics will be delivered within an educational program, etc. Nurses responsible for such things "sketch out" their ideas all the time.

I could not have said this better myself.

Concept maps are supposed to provide a student with a way to visualize/organize their plan of care, but nurses don't do these as their day-to-day documentation. I not only had to do the 15-page care plan, but ALSO the concept maps. It was awful and it confused me until the day I asked a clinical instructor exactly what she wanted on it. That's one thing that you should take away from this; if you don't understand something, don't ask us since I'm in PA and might do it differently than wherever you're from; ask the instructor that will be grading you on this. It's better to ask than to do them wrong for the rest of your schooling. They will be more than happy to explain it to you.