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College of Nursing

Biography

Dr. Woods is a Professor at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Nursing. He has been a nurse most of his working life. His first experience was as an 18-year-old nursing assistant (care aide) in a very large mental health hospital in England, UK. Once registered as a Mental Health Nurse, Dr. Woods spent a short period of time at the same mental health hospital before moving to work in a large forensic mental health hospital. Nurses engage in the whole care spectrum with individuals who had varying degrees of complex mental health problems and offending histories. The work at the forensic mental health hospital was very challenging but rewarding. These initial experiences sparked the way his research developed over the years. Dr. Woods has never lost his keen interest in ensuring his research is clearly anchored within the clinical practice arena. In 2000, he completed his PhD work entitled "The Behavioural Status Index: Descriptive Studies in a Forensic Context". In 2005, Dr. Woods moved to Canada to pursue further opportunities.

Dr. Woods’ research and scholarly program over the years has focused clearly on forensic mental health nursing. His main interests are violence prediction, risk assessment and management, instrument development, and developing practice within forensic mental health nursing specifically but also mental health nursing more generally. Dr. Woods also spent three years as a member of a virtual institute for the study of personality disorders. His career has seen him involved in several research projects, mostly using quantitative methodology and undertaking various types of systematic reviews.

Research Interests

  • Forensic mental health care
  • Psychiatric and mental health nursing
  • Risk assessment and management
  • Violence prediction

Methodology

  • Quantitative
  • Systematic reviews

Courses

  • NURS 307: Integrating Mental Health and Addiction into Nursing
  • NURS 321: Therapeutic Interventions for Individuals and Groups
  • NURS 818: Statistical Methodology in Nursing
  • NURS 862: Integrative Review: Critical Appraisals of Health Evidence

Publications

External Committees

  • Committee Member, Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarship Committee, Registered Psychiatric Nurses Foundation Inc