gremmiemom

hi, gremmiemom!

hope you haven't been too snowed in where you are. i'm posting some links to a couple of older threads on allnurses where some students were nice enough to post copies of their concept maps. you can open up the files and see what they look like.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/concept-maps-155445.html

here is a site that explains what a nursing concept map is, what they look like and how they are put together: http://cord.org/txcollabnursing/onsite_conceptmap.htm

this site is a companion site to the textbook medical-surgical nursing: assessment and management of clinical problems by lewis and is an online concept map creator http://elsevier.touchwood.net/lewis/ . you might want to play around with it to see if you like the way it prints out your patient information.

i have a copy of mosby's nursing concept map creator software by giddens and kennedy. i, personally, do not care for the way it prints out the concept map. now, it might be because i am not real familiar with all the quirks of the program, but i'm going to say that's probably not true. i just don't like the way it prints things out. printing out the concept map is often a problem for students which is why i posted the link to the lewis concept map creator above. other software that is capable of printing out formats for concept maps are powerpoint (if you have the correct add-on for it) and microsoft visio. there is another program out there that you can access for free, but i can't remember the name of it, i'm still looking for it. some of the students in my medical staff services class used it for printing out organizational charts. i have to get in touch with the instructor and see if she knows the name of the software. i can use the table formatting in word to create this kind of stuff, but i am very familiar and skilled with using table for creating forms.

there is also a book called concept mapping: a critical-thinking approach to care planning by pamela mchugh schuster published by f.a. davis that runs about $26. her ideas are basically what are on the website i've listed above that explain concept mapping.

anyway. . .know this. . .a concept map is just another physical way of presenting the information of your thinking during the nursing process. it is a little different from the traditional way most students and facilities write down care plans. yet another way is called a clinical pathway. what they all have in common is that they are an expression of the nursing process. that never changes. what is different about them is that (1) they look different from other written expressions of the nursing process, and (2) each of these physical expressions has a different focus to them. the concept maps are supposed to get you to look at your patient from a holistic viewpoint.

keep in mind the steps of the nursing process:

1. assessment
   
2. nursing diagnosis
   
3. planning
   
4. implementation
   
5. evaluation

everything starts with the assessment. if you have a shaky foundation of assessment data, the rest of what you put into your concept map, care plan, mini map, or clinical pathway won't amount to squat. if you chose your nursing diagnoses incorrectly or because you didn't have good assessment data you are not going to get concept mapping right no matter how pretty your finished physical piece of paper looks with all it's colorful lines and symbols.

please check out these three threads on the student nursing forums here on allnurses for information on assessment and care planning:

• https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/health-assessment-resources-techniques-forms-145091.html - health assessment resources, techniques, and forms (in nursing student assistance forum)
  
• https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/desperately-need-help-careplans-170689.html - desperately need help with careplans (in nursing student assistance forum)
  
• https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/careplans-help-please-r-t-aeb-121128-7.html - careplans help please! (with the r\t and aeb) (in general nursing student discussion forum)

don't be afraid to ask for help or assistance in your concept mapping process. stay warm and safe from the bad weather. happy care planning.

welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

Good luck! If you run into problems, ask for help.