RISNA Annual Meeting

According to American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA), Cannabis nursing is the incorporation of knowledge of the endocannabinoid system and the safe use of herbal cannabis products into standard nursing practice and the awareness of legal complexities attached to this herb. Cannabis nurses recognize the many important considerations this treatment ushers in. This includes: guiding use of the drug to minimize unwanted effects, identifying drug interactions, recognizing clean safe medicine, assisting in titrating or tapering doses, test strains, teaching about strain differences, and so forth. Mostly, cannabis nurses understand that cannabis is a treatment within a continuum of care which involves interacting components, like other drugs and treatments, the law and the physiology of wellness and illness. 

Please join us for this informative day and learn about Empowering the Nurse's Role in the Medicinal Cannabis Movement.  The Business Meeting starts after the Keynote speaker at 3:30 pm.

Meet our Keynote Speaker

ACNA President, Carey S. Clark, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, RYT has been a nurse since 1994, with a wide practice background including experience within the acute care setting, pediatrics, hospice care, and parish nursing. Dr. Clark is an Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Maine at Augusta, and she has over 20 publications in journals such as Advances in Nursing Science, International Journal for Human Caring, Holistic Nursing Practice, and Creative Nursing. She blogs for the Cannabis Today blog in the Bangor Daily News.

Dr. Clark moved to Maine from California to start a holistic-integral RN-BSS nursing program. She has developed a learning module around the endocannabinoid system for RN-BSN pharmacology students, and she has presented to many nurses and nursing students around the endocannabinoid system and medicinal use of cannabis. 

Dr. Clark believes that nurses should be empowered to be at the forefront of the medical cannabis movement in the USA, and that every nurse needs a background in understanding how this ancient-sacred medicine works in the body to support health and healing. Dr. Clark has served on the board of directors of the ACNA since 2016.  She regularly supports oncology and holistic nurses’ knowledge base through education around the endocannabinoid system and how to best support patients’ medicinal use of cannabis.

In 2017, Dr. Clark spoke at the Oncology Nursing Society National Congress and Regional Conferences, and she offered a pre-conference workshop at the American Holistic Nurses Association National Conference in 2016-2017.  In 2018, Dr. Clark was the plenary speaker for AHNA’s National Conference and offered two workshops on medicinal cannabis and the holistic nurse’s role, which were well attended. Dr. Clark looks forward to supporting healthcare professional’s understanding of medicinal cannabis and the endocannabinoid system.

Note: Lunch and Annual Business Meeting included.  Revised Bylaws to be approved.