Abstract
Objective
To explore perinatal nurses’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to screening for prenatal cannabis use during hospital admission for birth.
Design
Qualitative descriptive.
Setting
Individual virtual interviews.
Participants
Perinatal registered nurses (N = 22) who worked on labor and delivery and/or postpartum units in hospitals in 15 states in the United States.
Methods
We asked participants to describe perceived barriers and facilitators to screening for prenatal cannabis use. We identified themes using Braun and Clarke’s method of reflexive thematic analysis.
Results
Participants held a variety of roles, including staff nurse (n = 13), educator (n = 4), and manager/director (n = 5). Themes categorized as barriers to screening included Patient Fear of Consequences, Screening Environment, Absence of a Patient-Centered Approach, Credibility of Patient Report, and Clinician Avoidance of Screening. Themes categorized as facilitators of screening included Patient-Centered Approach, Explaining the Rationale, Nursing Experience, Screening Protocols, and Cannabis Legalization.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest numerous opportunities to address barriers and promote facilitators to screening for prenatal cannabis use. Nurses should be educated to effectively conduct the patient-centered approaches identified as facilitators to screening, including motivational interviewing and trauma-informed care. Supporting perinatal nurses to conduct patient-centered screening has the potential to address discriminatory health practices and ensure effective screening for prenatal cannabis use.