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Loralie Woods, is the recipient of the 2019 Madeline Naegle Scholarship Fund Award for Mental Health Nursing. She obtained a Bachelor of Nursing from Memorial University Faculty of Nursing in Newfoundland, Canada. After relocating to the United States, she earned a Master of Science in Nursing from San Diego State University. Most recently, in 2020, she graduated with a PhD in Nursing from the University of San Diego Hahn School Nursing and Health Science and serves as the Director of Inpatient Operations of a 159-bed behavioral health hospital.
Her area of research is maternal mental health focusing on pregnant women with opioid use disorders. She was called to action after listening to a heart-breaking interview on National Public Radio of 2 children who lost their mother to an opioid overdose. From that point onward, as mother, doctoral student, and nurse leader, she felt compelled to understand the driving forces beyond the opioid crisis and discover ways to prevent future children from experiencing these losses. The goal of her research was to inform and assist healthcare clinicians tailor interventions to support pregnant women in seeking treatment and preventing death due to opioid overdose.
Additionally, Loralie serves as an adjunct clinical professor for graduate students completing their psychiatric-mental health nursing preceptorships and is passionate about influencing the next generation of nurses to advocate for policy change, address social justice, and equity in mental health care. Loralie is grateful for the opportunities she has experienced and feels honored to be the provider of hope for patients with mental health and substance use disorders and leader of the next generation of psychiatric-mental health nurses.
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