Nursing Faculties’ Attitudes and Perceptions on Integrating Medical Cannabis Content into Undergraduate Nursing Curricula A Qualitative Study
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Abstract
Purpose: To explore attitudes and perceptions of an integration of the medical cannabis content into undergraduate nursing curricula from the perspectives of nursing faculties within a context of Thailand.
Design: A qualitative descriptive study.
Methods: Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 15 participants working in a nursing faculty in Southern Thailand. The data was collected between February 2020 and August 2020 through individual in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim for each participant. All participants identifiers were removed from the data. Data were analyzed using content analysis to determine key results from the transcription of the recorded interviews.
Main findings: The achievement of data saturation was achieved after interviewing 15 participants (14 female, 1 male). The ages ranged from 29 to 56 years with an average of 39.6 years. All participants reported lack of participation in education on medical cannabis as well as the preparation of nursing students in caring for patients using medical cannabis. Two main themes emerged from content analysis: professional ambivalence and conditional recommendations for integration. The theme professional ambivalence was divided into two sub-themes: perceived benefits and risks of medical cannabis and acknowledging the need for integration. The theme conditional recommendations for integration consisted of two sub-themes, including call to action for the proper integration and key elements of a successful integration.
Conclusion and recommendations: The nursing faculties held favorable views of integrating medical cannabis content into the nursing curricula regardless of their divergent attitudes, perceptions, and concerns toward medical cannabis. They perceived a dual role: first, educating students on the principles of safe, quality care for medical cannabis patients, and second, supervising them to develop clinical competency with this patient population. The comprehensive education and training of medical cannabis is therefore required to strengthen the nursing faculties’ competency to ensure their readiness in preparing nursing students and for patients that use medical cannabis.
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