The national Ask your Provider About Cannabis (APAC) study evaluated a continuing education (CE) program to broaden nurse practitioners' (NPs) knowledge, confidence, and willingness to discuss cannabis with patients. A sample of 841 participants registered for the program, with 289 completing both pre- and post-tests and 184 participating in a follow-up survey. Two-hour CE modules were vetted and cleared by two state Boards of Pharmacy and by the accrediting bodies for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Washington State Pharmacy Association. Content included pharmacodynamics, cannabis law, evidence-based use, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, laboratory testing, adverse reactions and drug–drug interactions. A majority of NPs completing the course (82.6%) felt they knew less than half of the content before completion and that the module strongly improved their knowledge (96.9%). Target pharmacologic content pre- and post-test scores rose in all areas, especially in accuracy of response to questions about pharmacokinetics, metabolism and drug–drug interactions. Directly following the CE program, most NPs said the new knowledge they gained either reinforced their practice or that could potentially change it (69.9%). More than 10%wanted additional information and 19.4% expected their current practice to remain unchanged. Meanwhile, 52.2% agreed the CE had changed their attitude about cannabis since application to practice. In this study, the authors write, "we demonstrate the benefit of receiving CE modules in both improved knowledge scores and greater likelihood of talking with patients, provide information on where to target education such as on how evidence may be incorporated into discussions about cannabis, and show that further research is needed to identify why or what barriers are preventing practitioners to implementing this education into their clinical practice."

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