Richard Westphal

Richard Westphal is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Virginia since 2013. A U.S. Navy veteran, he previously oversaw the Navy’s $117 million psychological health and Traumatic Brain Injury programs (2007–2010). His work focuses on psychiatric/mental health services, stress injury management, and palliative care for military, law enforcement, and healthcare workers. He co-founded the Wisdom & Wellbeing program to address healthcare provider stress.

Research interests include stress injury prevention, trauma care for frontline workers, and military cultural competence. Notable contributions include adapting stress first aid models for healthcare workers during pandemics and developing mental health prevention programs in nursing education.

Grants include a $2.14M award (2023) to expand stress first aid training. He actively advocates for the reauthorization of the Lorna Breen Healthcare Providers Protection Act. His work emphasizes concordant suicide assessment models and family fitness in military contexts.

Labs/Teams: Wisdom & Wellbeing initiative, collaborating with peers like Dr. Sharon Plews-Ogan to train exhausted healthcare staff in peer support and stress management.