Nurses' Perceptions of Psychedelics to Address Mental Health Problems in the United States.
Carolyn M Porta, Madison E Weirick, Anna Graefe, Scott B Harpin, Caroline Dorsen
Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) September 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1089/psymed.2023.0073 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA survey of 1,133 Minnesota nurses in 2023 found mixed attitudes toward psychedelic decriminalization: 45.7% in favor, 20.1% against, and 34.2% unsure. Most nurses were open to therapeutic use and 80.7% were interested in observing psychedelic sessions, while 74.1% believed nurses have an important role in psychedelic health care. However, only 26.5% were confident in their knowledge about potential benefits for mental health conditions and 21.2% about mechanisms of action. As psychedelics may be reclassified by the FDA, nurses need more education to support evidence-based use for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,133 |
| Population | Registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners in Minnesota |
| Keywords | Health care Mental health Nursing Policy Psychedelics |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | Nurses showed openness to psychedelic therapy but low confidence in their knowledge about psychedelics' benefits and mechanisms for treating mental health conditions. |
Abstract
To explore nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and perceived social norms about psychedelic use to address mental health conditions. Data were collected through an anonymous e-survey of Minnesota registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners in Spring 2023; the pool was randomly selected from the Minnesota Board of Nursing registry. A total of 1133 nurses completed the survey. Respondents were generally demographically representative of Minnesota nurses. Nurses exhibited mixed attitudes toward psychedelic decriminalization (45.7% in favor, 20.1% against, and 34.2% unsure). Participants expressed openness to therapeutic use (mean = 20.5 and standard deviation = 4.3), interest in observing psychedelic sessions (80.7%), and believed in the importance of the role of nurses in the realm of psychedelic health care (74.1%). However, nurses reported low confidence in their knowledge about the potential benefits of psychedelics for the treatment of mental health concerns (26.5% confident) and mechanisms of action (21.2% confident). With the potential Food and Drug Administration reclassification and approval of psychedelics for treating conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction, nurses are poised to play a crucial role in supporting scalable and equitable access to psychedelic treatment and information. Nurses and their health care professional counterparts require additional education and new competency development to appropriately and knowledgeably support evidence-based psychedelic use to treat various mental health conditions.