national association of psychiatric intensive care units

Laura Woods

Laura Woods

Executive Member

Laura is a mental health nurse with over 18 years’ experience working in PICUs, prisons and secure and forensic health care. During her time working within PICU she was an active member of the Positive and Safe network for the Department of Health with her ward being an early implementer for reducing restrictive practice. Laura has spoken nationally about reducing the use of seclusion and has a particular interest in how PICU teams can provide meaningful alternatives to restrictive interventions.

After nearly nine years working in PICU, Laura managed a healthcare service within the prison estate. During this time, she gained a MSc in Clinical Forensic Psychiatry with her research looking at prison transfers to general adult PICUs.

She is now working as a Consultant Nurse and Approved Clinician on a women’s medium secure unit for Forensic Health Care in Sussex. Laura continues to focus on promoting mental health nursing as a clinical career, with her work focusing on the nurse-patient relationship. She remains committed to reducing restrictive practices across all mental health settings and consults on clinical practice in both secure services and PICU’s.

Laura also enjoys teaching both pre- registration nursing students and on master’s programs at two different universities in the southeast. She is on the editorial board for the Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units and is passionate about supporting nurses undertake research.