In this study, concept maps were used in teaching the course, Introduction to Nursing. The purposes were to explore the students' attitude toward concept maps and their conceptual understanding of nursing with the aid of concept maps. The participants were 146 first-year junior college nursing students at a medical college of technology. The students constructed one group concept map and two individual concept maps over a period of more than one semester. They also completed a concept map attitude questionnaire and wrote comments about their experience at the end of the course. The questionnaires and concept maps were analyzed quantitatively, and the comments were treated with content analysis. The results indicated that: (1) The students responded positively toward concept maps (M=4.89). (2) Both group maps and individual maps demonstrated students' conceptual understanding of nursing philosophy and the role and function of nurses. (3) The students' comments revealed their affirmation of concept maps and positive thinking toward nursing. The findings indicate that the teaching of concept maps is useful in empowering first-year junior college nursing students of the Introduction to Nursing course.