Nurse Leaders’ Attitudes Toward and Experiences With Medical Marijuana

Abstract

Background

As more states in the United States legalize marijuana for medical use, nurse leaders will play increasingly important roles in patients’ access to and use of medical marijuana.

Purpose

To examine nurse leaders’ attitudes toward and experiences with medical marijuana by state policy environment.

Methods

We conducted a national, online, cross-sectional survey of nurse leaders who were recruited through the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (n = 811). Descriptive statistics were used to examine the prevalence of responses to each item.

Results

The majority of respondents worked in inpatient settings or health systems. Nearly 90% of nurse leaders thought that people should be able to use marijuana legally to treat their medical conditions, 67% believed that nurses should facilitate access to medical marijuana for patients who would benefit from its use, and 78% agreed that state and national nursing organizations should help reduce the stigma associated with the drug. Two-thirds of nurse leaders viewed medical marijuana as less dangerous than other drugs for treating pain and viewed legalization as leading to safer marijuana products (e.g., ensuring it is not laced with other substances) and enabling clinicians to be responsive to patient preferences. In states that had legalized medical marijuana, the absence of institutional policies and clinical guidelines about medical marijuana were identified by most respondents as significant barriers to patients’ legal use of it in healthcare settings. Fourteen percent of nurse leaders were aware of NCSBN’s National Nursing Guidelines for Medical Marijuana. The vast majority of respondents (85%) believed that education about medical marijuana should be provided in prelicensure nursing education programs.

Conclusion

Nurse leaders were supportive of legalization and viewed nurses and nursing organizations as central to patients’ acceptance of, access to, and use of medical marijuana. Nurse leaders acknowledged that they lacked education and were unaware of existing guidelines on the topic.