Patients are required to have a physician certification for their application for a card in Missouri’s program, yet the physician performing the certification rarely provides recommendations for how to consume, what different types of cannabis could be used for various ailments or the appropriate dosage for an individual.
Health systems and large healthcare conglomerates are loath to discuss cannabis and as a result, many will refuse to talk with patients about cannabis as medicine or endorse the use of cannabis by their patients.
When a physician is closed-minded or directed by their affiliated health system to avoid discussions about cannabis, what’s a person to do to learn more about the appropriate use of the medicine? For those clinicians who have experience with cannabis as medicine, the frustration with traditional physicians has increased exponentially.
Only 18 percent of participants rated their PCP’s knowledge about medical cannabis as very good or excellent and only 21 percent were very or completely confident in their PCP’s ability to integrate medical cannabis into their treatment.
Here in Missouri, cannabis nurses are taking on the challenge of patient education, as well as spreading the word among traditional clinicians that cannabis IS medicine and that education exists if clinicians want to be educated.
This is a slippery slope, as many patients enter a dispensary looking for help and guidance on what product types, what potency, and what consumption methods might be the best solution for them as well as hoping that the person helping them will know about any potential risks or drug interactions.
Around the same time, her sister was in a catastrophic car accident and after following her doctor’s orders, not only found that she wasn’t recovering, but she didn’t want to continue the use of opioids and their negative side effects.
GoAskAliceRN is an app under development by Mangan and will provide a new way for people to connect with cannabis clinicians – for resources, learning, certifications – all to teach patients to take control of their healthcare.
In 2014, she searched for a way to better manage the chronic pain and anxiety she’d dealt with for years and discovered that more holistic and naturopathic therapies, including cannabis, offered more hope than prescription medications had and began her secondary education on the plant’s anatomy and use as treatment.
2Leaf Nurses follows a business model in which dispensaries engage with her and her staff to spend an allotted amount of time in a dispensary, which is beneficial, but she prefers to utilize telehealth, stating that it allows her to support multiple patients in multiple dispensaries more efficiently.
Culley is helping to engage more traditional clinicians in Missouri via the Missouri Nurses Association, which she’s working with on a 4-part program of education for clinicians that is receiving receptive support from the organization.
April Hatch, featured on this issue’s cover, is co-founder of the Cannabis Care Team on the football field and she saw firsthand the positive impact cannabis had on his life.
Concussions are the most common type of injury, but any severity of TBI can disrupt a patient’s life, possibly leading to long-term, debilitating symptoms. The initial trauma of a TBI causes instant and ongoing changes in the brain, including the release of compounds that can cause swelling, dysfunction, neurotoxicity, cell death, and more, leading to neurological issues that can plague patients for months or even years.
A lack of sustainable and effective pharmaceutical treatments for TBI means that many sufferers, including professional athletes, are curious about the potential of CBD and THC, the chemical compounds found in medical cannabis.
“Working with patients, especially seniors, is one of the most gratifying and rewarding things I do every day, these are people who we are helping and to see them find relief and help them learn about options is the best job in the world,” said Hatch.
A frequent public speaker, Hatch has been asked to talk to groups both large and small at conferences, events, and advocacy initiatives.
“Cannabis nurses have a deep understanding of medical cannabis along with their knowledge of the medical conditions patients may be considering it for and the medications they may be taking.
Patient consultations are still a large part of the work of CCT, and Hatch isn’t the only RN on the team, she’s joined by Matt Cascio, who is a cannabis nurse with the shared passion of everyone in this feature – he’s a believer in the therapeutic benefits of cannabis and brings the enthusiasm to the CCT events that they’re known for.
CCT also partners with other clinicians who hope to advance the industry for patients – including Elevate Holistics who provide physician certifications, and Dawn Privett, a registered, licensed dietitian who has been working with patients for 25 years.
Hatch has expanded their offerings in the past two years to include dispensary staff training, with a strong foundation and focus on how to best help dispensary staff understand the importance of talking with patients, versus simply selling whatever the store hopes to promote.
“Cannabis nurses can do a lot more too.
Trout says of their dispensary training, “We’ve learned a lot from budtenders ourselves and we want to make sure we can give back, and we do that by providing the evidence-based cannabis basics and the experience we have working with patients all over the country.
While cannabis as medicine might not be for everyone, it’s something that CCT wants to make sure people are given valid and relevant information about – which is where the team’s slogan comes from – Education Before Medication.