Resources
Evidence-based insights, clinical guidance, and thought leadership for healthcare systems, nursing leaders, and clinical teams navigating the intersection of cannabis and patient care.
Conceptual Model
Cannabis integration is not solely a pharmacologic or policy issue but a nursing problem of navigation, education, care coordination, case management, and safety. The Cannabis Nurse Navigator is proposed as a systems-level nursing response designed to reduce fragmentation, improve communication, and support safe, evidence-informed cannabis-related care within healthcare systems. Modeled on proven navigation roles in oncology and chronic care, where nurse navigators have demonstrated improved patient outcomes, increased treatment adherence, and reduced system inefficiencies, the Cannabis Nurse Navigator applies the same core principles of assessment, care coordination, education, advocacy, and systems literacy to cannabis care.
"The Cannabis Nurse Navigator occupies a critical intersection between clinical expertise, organizational systems, and patient-centered advocacy."
— Cannabis Nurse Navigator — Conceptual Model
Scope of Practice
Transitioning from theory to practice, the Cannabis Nurse Navigator fulfills five core functions that define its professional scope. The role emphasizes coordination, policy alignment, and organizational leadership, rather than direct bedside care.
Develops, standardizes, and supports implementation of cannabis-related assessment pathways across care settings; may oversee or coordinate specialty assessment processes performed by the cannabis nurse or other qualified clinicians.
Leads development of evidence-based educational frameworks, staff training, and patient education pathways; ensures access to accurate cannabis-related educational resources across the healthcare system.
Facilitates communication among the interdisciplinary healthcare team, ensuring cannabis-related patient information is documented and integrated into overall care planning.
Promotes destigmatization and equitable access for patients who use medical cannabis, with particular attention to marginalized or underserved populations.
Establishes screening and referral workflows for identifying misuse, dependence risk, cannabis use disorder (CUD), cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), and other cannabis-related safety concerns within interdisciplinary care systems.
Primary Responsibilities
Through these activities, the Cannabis Nurse Navigator helps healthcare organizations move beyond fragmented or informal approaches to cannabis use, replacing them with structured and evidence-informed systems of care.
One of the most consequential and most frequently missed clinical distinctions in modern healthcare. Understanding how to differentiate therapeutic cannabis use from problematic use is foundational to quality patient care, accurate diagnosis, and appropriate treatment planning.
Cannabis is already at the bedside in the histories patients share, the medications they take, and the symptoms they present with. This guide outlines the institutional readiness questions every healthcare system should be asking now, before regulatory and clinical pressure forces the conversation.
A deep look at what a cannabis nurse navigator actually does — from patient assessment and education to clinical team support and policy implementation. Grounded in the completed research at Hartford Healthcare and the Institute of Living, and informed by the oncology nurse navigator model that has demonstrated improved patient outcomes and reduced system inefficiencies.
An introduction to the Cannabis Assessment Reliability and Validity Evaluation Tool. The original clinical screening instrument developed to help navigators and providers assess cannabis use with the precision that accurate diagnosis demands.
As state cannabis laws continue to evolve, healthcare systems need policies that are clinically defensible, legally sound, and built to adapt. This resource outlines the key components of a governance-ready cannabis policy framework informed by real hospital research.
The Cannabis Nurse Navigator model accepts existing cannabis nurse certifications from established outside programs then layers the Cannabis Nurse Navigator framework on top to create a navigation-ready clinical role. Here is how that pathway works and why it is the most efficient route to implementation.
Go Deeper
If you are a healthcare leader, researcher, or nursing professional who wants to explore the evidence behind Cannabis Nurse Navigator or discuss what replication or implementation could look like for your organization we are ready to talk.