NURS3005 Professional Development Plan: Understanding the Role of Medical Cannabis in Palliative Nursing Care in Australia

Task: develop a professional plan for myself (a nursing student) to have a better understanding of why medical cannabis should be available for patients in palliative care, in Australia.

APA 7^th for references. Provide 5 or more academic references, references need to be evidence-based, not from web surfing. Preferably all Australian based.

Please do not use judgemental words. The goal is to support medical cannabis availability to eligible palliative patients.

This professional plan needs to be based on the following reflective writing summary:

I was really conflicted about supporting medicinal cannabis to be available to patients in palliative care, reason being I come from a different cultural background and the use of cannabis is extremely prohibited. But after some research I found out:

Medical cannabis has been shown to be effective in managing symptoms in palliative care patients. Palliative care focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness, and medical cannabis has been found to be helpful in managing pain, nausea, and vomiting, which are common symptoms in these patients.

medical cannabis can be a useful tool in palliative care for managing symptoms such as pain, nausea, and vomiting

There is evidence to suggest that medical cannabis can be a useful tool for palliative care, particularly in patients with cancer. Studies have shown that medical cannabis can help relieve pain and reduce nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.

And I realised that its probably for the patients best interest, since they are in palliative care already. And the use of these medicinal cannabis should only be used under the guidance of a healthcare professional with experience in using cannabis for medical purposes. They can help determine the appropriate dosage and form of medical cannabis for each individual patient.

Professional Plan

• In developing your professional plan, identify the key areas you would like to further develop your theoretical knowledge or practical skills, pertaining to the contemporary issue you have chosen. You should base the points you raised in your reflective piece.


• Explain why you have chosen these key areas.

Examples:

I would like to know more about the current legislation surrounding the use of medicinal cannabis in Queensland to help inform my practice and understand the legal issues surrounding the use of medicinal cannabis in Queensland, Australia.

• What strategies can you put into place in your professional plan to develop your knowledge or skills on the points you have reflected on in your reflective piece? E.g. read articles, talk to other health professionals.


• Reflect if you have used similar strategies successfully or not in the past and why were they successful or unsuccessful?


• Formatting your professional plan: Your professional plan should be set out using the S.M.A.R.T goal and objective format with brief description (100-150 words) under each point. Components of the S.M.A.R.T format include; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound.

Specific: Provide one or two sentences which outline your goal/s (You can have more than one). This can be related to a particular area of focus i.e. To improve my knowledge of the safe guards in place, to protect people with limited capacity from accessing voluntary assisted dying services.

Measurable: Identify how you will use to measure your progress, i.e. completed readings, written summary, develop a ppt presentation or one-page document with what you have learnt during the process.

Achievable: Develop a realistic plan of action of how you might achieve your goal. For example. 1. Identify research from the last five years and read abstracts. 2. Identify relevant articles and read them. 3, Summarise articles. 4. Read relevant legislation.

Relevant: Describe the relevance of achieving is learning objective and consider how you could share it with other students. How would this learning inform your clinical practice? E.g., will increase my knowledge in nursing care for the palliative patient.

Time bound: What are the timelines for achieving your goals and priorities? Will this be an ongoing process of learning, or a goal you can complete in a set amount of time? E.g., by Aug. 2023.

o Define your goal. Provide one or two sentences which outline your goal/s (You can have more than one). This can be related to a particular area of focus i.e. To improve my knowledge of the safe guards in place, to protect people with limited capacity from accessing voluntary assisted dying services.

o Prioritize. Develop a plan of action of how you might achieve your goal. For example. 1. Identify research from the last five years and read abstracts. 2. Identify relevant articles and read them. 3, Summarise articles. 4. Read relevant legislation.

o Set a deadline. What are the timelines for achieving your goals and priorities?

o Develop new skill. How would you share your newfound knowledge with colleagues/other students or patients?

o Take action. Complete the tasks as you have outline above.

o Measure progress. Identify how you will use to measure your progress, i.e. completed readings, written summary, develop a ppt presentation or one-page document with what you have learnt during the process.