| Abstract: | Differential diagnosis, the process by which providers use clinical reasoning to filter through possible diagnoses, is routine practice for advanced practice nurses. Teaching differential diagnosis poses a challenge for educators who seek to implement methods that explicate the process and capitalize on students’ existing knowledge. Integration of the Differential Concept Map promotes the development of a visual representation of the typical, internal process students should use in critical thinking and relationship analysis. Nurse practitioner students intentionally work through the map to integrate key assessment data to ensure all possibilities are considered and the individual patient presentation drives the process. |
