The New York State Office of Mental Health today recognized National Nurses Week and the contributions of the roughly 2,200 nurses working at its psychiatric centers. The agency also announced that Maxine Smalling, OMH’s chief executive nursing officer, has received the American Psychiatric Nurses Association’s 2025 Award for Excellence in Leadership, which is presented to licensed professionals demonstrating excellence in psychiatric-mental health nursing practice, education, research, leadership, and community efforts.

“Our nurses are the heart of our state’s mental health care system,” Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said. “These highly skilled professionals serve our patients and provide excellent care each and every day.  This week, we honor the members of this workforce and recognize their daily contributions to providing mental health care to New Yorkers in need.”

In addition, New York State will illuminate 15 landmarks red on Sunday, May 11, in honor of National Nurses Week. Governor Kathy Hochul also issued a proclamation this week to honor nurses statewide.

Smalling, a registered nurse with more than 30 years of experience in various psychiatric and addiction settings, established OMH’s Nurse Residency Program and the agency’s inaugural Nurse Practitioners’ Fellowship Program. Under her leadership, OMH also adopted Caring Science as the framework for the agency’s nursing practice.

“Maxine has the vision to see what the staff need to provide the highest quality of care to our patients and will fight for it tirelessly to ensure they get it,” said Juanita Goyette, a registered nurse and administrator of OMH’s Nurse Development Program, who nominated Smalling for the award.

As part of the recognition week, OMH virtually hosted the agency’s 2025 Nursing Award Ceremony this week, which started with a special welcome message from Commissioner Sullivan. This annual tradition was started to honor the valuable contributions of the agency’s roughly 2,200 nurses and direct care staff following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

OMH began its residency program in 2021 to enhance the recruitment and retention. The program also provides ongoing learning for newly hired nurses to increase decision-making capacity, enable consistent use of evidence-based practices, and critical thinking skills to enhance their knowledge and competency to meet the complex need of patients in their care.

Last month, the agency launched its Nursing Fellowship Program to provide new or inexperienced nurse practitioners with training and mentorship to help them establish competency and confidence as independent providers of care. There are now 12 nurses enrolled in this training, which is aimed at helping them address the complexity of needs in patients served across the continuum of care.

New York has about 454,000 registered professional nurses, licensed practical nurses, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives across all health care settings statewide. The American Nurses Association's celebration of National Nurses Week extends to May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.