Campus Location

Dallas Campus (Online)

Date of Award

8-2021

ORCID

https://orcid.org/000-0003-4272-9564

Document Type

DNP Project

Department

Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Dr. Lynx McClellan

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Dr. Linda Gibson

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Dr. Molly Kuhle

Abstract

Abstract For thousands of years, medical cannabis has been used for relief of chronic pain and personal ailments. It changes users’ mental capacities and perceptions while treating and providing relief from pain and muscle spasms. As a recreational and spiritual substance, this Schedule I drug requires special consideration and certification to administer. Increasing complaints of chronic pain have led doctors to prescribe opioids for pain relief. As prescriptions for opioids have increased, the number of opioid-related mortality and morbidity incidents have also risen. The high rates of opioid-related near deaths and overdoses have led policy makers, clinicians, pharmacists, and providers to invest in medical marijuana as a more natural alternative. The purpose of this scholarly project was to describe the use of medical marijuana for the relief of chronic pain. The health belief model was used to guide this quantitative, descriptive, correlational study. The researcher used the Brief Pain Inventory to assess the use of medical marijuana for relief of chronic pain among 25 participants in one mid-eastern U.S. state. Participants were qualifying adults ages 18 to 80 seeking recertification for medical marijuana with the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission. Improved recognition of early pain management issues related to narcotics will aid providers in supporting alternative treatment measures using medical cannabis administration. Medical cannabis is safer and more effective than opioids, reducing harm to users and improving and increasing their quality of life. Keywords: marijuana, cannabis, opioid, THC

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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