Nurses for hire

From the time I was able to finally talk about cannabis without getting my license revoked, I started talking to other nurses.

Family and friends were easy to talk to about it,, but sometimes trying to talk to nurses and doctors about this miraculous plant just didn’t go over well especially since we taught not to believe in miracles.  Once the Missouri State Board of Nursing published their statement on “Medical Marijuana” stating I could be a patient and a nurse I was free!  “What do you think about cannabis?” is the question I asked any medical professional I met. Previous coworkers who let their belief in “alternative medicine” slide in the break room; doctors who taught their patients about diet; hell, I would talk to anyone with scrubs on at the grocery store. As soon as the word “endocannabinoid” came out of their mouth I had an ally. Finally, a medical professional who didn’t believe cannabis was a car accident or a mental health condition waiting to happen. Nurses have learned so much, but we also learned the same thing every medical curriculum included:  Cannabis is dangerous and has no medical value. 

We never really questioned what we were told until we had to. Nurses who advocate for cannabis use are like everyone else. They have seen it work with their very own eyes. Maybe it was a sister-in-law who had cancer, a grandfather with chronic pain, or a child on their fifth medication for seizures.

These conversations have grown into a network of nurses, burnt out on traditional healthcare, who want to help patients again.  We are looking for that purpose we once felt and the cannabis industry may be where we find it. I was attending a recent webinar where Dr. Ethan Russo was a speaker and someone reminded him of something he once said, “A good doctor always listens to his nurse.” So be like a good doctor and listen to me. You need to hire nurses. 

Here’s a statistic you may be familiar with – according to a recent study, nurses are the number one most trusted profession in the US.  We didn’t earn that trust by just going to school and passing boards and delivering pain meds. We earned it by showing our patients time and time again that we are knowledgeable and compassionate professionals they need when they are struggling most. 

• Knowledge – Who knows about cardiac arrhythmias, multiple sclerosis, postpartum depression, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer? Nurses do.

Patients are often uncomfortable discussing cannabis with their doctor or their doctor is uncomfortable discussing cannabis with them. Patients WANT to talk to someone who not only understands the often complicated conditions patients receive their certifications for, but someone who knows how cannabis works, and how it might work for them.  I recently spoke with Barbara Blaser, RN and Clinical Director of Patient Services at a dispensary in Oakland, CA. “Nurses make a huge difference,” she says. Barbara has received thousands of calls and worked with hundreds of patients who are looking for the “knowledge and connection a nurse can provide.”  

With the increase in seniors interested in cannabis she has, even more, seeking out her services because of their long medical history and medication list. Barbara spends her time consulting with individual patients and offering senior-friendly education at events like “High Tea” where patients often come dressed up in big hats and fancy clothes. Barbara reports these patients not only spend more, but tell their friends, kids, and grandkids. 

• Compassion – Who holds the hands of the dying and who is with patients during the most confusing, distressing, and painful time in their life? Nurses.

There have been countless times when I was with a patient and as soon as the room has emptied of family, friends, and physicians they want to talk when they were silent moments before. They have questions about all those tests and medications the doctor ordered, they want to tell someone what having cancer is like, or share how much pain they are really in without distressing their loved ones. Teri Polley-Michea has been this nurse for many cannabis patients while working as a Patient Advocate at a dispensary in California and she tells me of a time when an older couple who had long been suffering with pain, anxiety, and depression said “This is what we’ve been wanting and waiting for!” after they completed an individual consultation with her. Finally, they had someone who showed them there was still hope! They made a big purchase that day and told everyone in the dispensary how much talking to the nurse helped. 

• Licensure – A nursing license is not just something we have worked really hard to earn, it’s something we work we really hard to keep. There is the continuing education most states require, in-depth renewals we have to complete, and the many rules of the Nurse Practice Act we have to follow. We know how important state inspections are and I anticipate the dispensaries will be seeing their fair share of those. 

At this point, Cannabis Nurses don’t have an official certification to prove their knowledge and experience, but oftentimes they have invested significant money and time to become proficient in the intricacies of cannabis as medicine and can successfully provide education, support, and advocacy. We are members of the American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA), the Cannabis Nurse Network, and the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and we have received many distinguished certificates from programs that focus on cannabis as medicine for health-care professionals. These are extremely detailed and rigorous training programs, more detailed than your average budtender course. 

Hiring nurses may not seem like a necessary line item in a dispensary budget, but hiring nurses is something many what other dispensary operators who have done so credit as a significant contributor to much of their customer loyalty to. A nurse can offer a variety of educational and supportive services for your patients and may find their purpose themselves. 

If you do consider hiring a nurse for the initials behind their name, please verify they are licensed to practice nursing in the state by going to nursys.com and verifying their licensure status. Please also understand that nurses have limitations. We must always be careful not to provide medical advice and leave that to the “good doctors.”