Canadian nursing students and education in medical and recreational cannabis: a preliminary evidence

Margareth Santos Zanchetta; Kateryna Metersky; Valerie Tan; Stephanie Pedrotti Lucchese; Yana Siganevich; Prashajini Sivasundaram; Truong Thanh Binh Nguyen; Charissa Cordon; Imran Qureshi

doi:10.1515/ijnes-2024-0009

Artikel

Canadian nursing students and education in medical and recreational cannabis: a preliminary evidence

Margareth Santos Zanchetta , Kateryna Metersky , Valerie Tan , Stephanie Pedrotti Lucchese , Yana Siganevich , Prashajini Sivasundaram , Truong Thanh Binh Nguyen , Charissa Cordon und Imran Qureshi

Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 31. März 2025

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Aus der Zeitschrift International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship Band 22 Heft 1

Abstract

Objectives

Explore the interest of Canadian undergraduate and graduate nursing students in medical (MC) and recreational cannabis (RC) education.

Methods

Transformative learning theory framed an online survey exploring sources of information; factors and learning modalities of increasing interest in learning about MC/RC; and future career plans regarding MC/RC in practice. Survey ran from September 2022 to February 2023. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were applied.

Results

Respondents (n=153) disclosed knowledge gaps in MC/RC regulations (90 %), effectiveness (88 %), and dosing best practices (86 %). Exposure to clinical opportunities and virtual resources were stimulating learning factors.

Conclusions

A socially responsive curriculum is crucial to engage nursing students in becoming more knowledgeable about this topic and understand the nurse’s role in enhancing practice quality. Implications for International Audience - The evidence provides a proactive approach to nursing educators in countries where cannabis is legal or in the process of being legalized.

Keywords: medical cannabis; nursing education; nursing practice; online survey; recreational cannabis; transformative learning theory

Corresponding author: Margareth Santos Zanchetta, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, E-mail: mzanchet@torontomu.ca

Funding source: Faculty of Community Services Seed Grant Fall 2021

Award Identifier / Grant number: n/a

Funding source: Sigma Theta Tau International Lambda Pi-At-Large Chapter Research Seed Grant 2022

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the support for the recruitment provided by the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association, Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, and the nursing faculty at the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Western University’s School of Nursing, McMaster University’s School of Nursing, University of New Brunswick’s Rutgers School of Nursing, McGill University’s Ingram School of Nursing, University of Alberta’s Faculty of Nursing, Queen’s University’s School of Nursing, Dalhousie University’s School of Nursing and Université Laval, Faculté des sciences infirmières. Special thanks to Dr. Idevania Costa (Lakehead University) and Dr. Roya Haghiri-Vijeh (York University) for the review of the early draft of the manuscript.

Research ethics: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies, and in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declarations, and has been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board or equivalent committee (Toronto Metropolitan University-Research Ethics Board), approval (2021-#499).
Informed consent: Explicit online informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in the study prior to accessing the questionnaire.
Author contributions: 1. Conception and design of the work; acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data for the work- MSZ, KM, YS, PS, TTBN, IQ. 2. Analysis, or interpretation of data for the work- MSZ, KM, VT, SPL, YS, PS, TTBN, CC, IQ. 3. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content- MSZ, KM, VT, SPL, YS, PS, TTBN, CC, IQ. 4. Final approval of the version to be published- MSZ, KM, VT, SPL, YS, PS, TTBN, CC, IQ. 5. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved- MSZ, KM, VT, SPL, YS, PS, TTBN, CC, IQ.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
Conflict of interest: No conflicting interests exist.
Research funding: Funding for this study was received from the Faculty of Community Services, Seed Grant Fall 2021 competition. Additional funding was received from the Sigma Theta Tau International Lambda Pi-At-Large Chapter, Research Seed Grant in Summer 2022 earned by the second and first authors.
Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-02-08

Accepted: 2025-01-24

Published Online: 2025-03-31

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2024-0009

Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel

medical cannabis; nursing education; nursing practice; online survey; recreational cannabis; transformative learning theory