The New York State Office of Mental Health is spotlighting the vital work of its psychiatric nurses and celebrating a top leader’s national recognition during National Nurses Week.
Maxine Smalling, chief executive nursing officer at OMH, has received the 2025 Award for Excellence in Leadership from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. The award honors licensed professionals for outstanding work in psychiatric-mental health nursing leadership, education, and practice.
“Our nurses are the heart of our state’s mental health care system,” said OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan. “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.”
To mark the occasion, New York will light up 15 landmarks red on Sunday, May 11. Governor Kathy Hochul also issued a statewide proclamation honoring nurses.
Smalling, a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in psychiatric and addiction services, established OMH’s Nurse Residency Program and its first Nurse Practitioners’ Fellowship Program. Under her leadership, OMH adopted Caring Science as the foundation for its 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 national award.
OMH also hosted its 2025 Nursing Award Ceremony virtually this week, continuing a tradition that began after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to honor the contributions of the agency’s approximately 2,200 nurses and direct care staff.
The Nurse Residency Program, launched in 2021, supports recruitment and retention of new nurses while enhancing their clinical judgment and critical thinking. The program focuses on strengthening decision-making and applying evidence-based practices to care for complex patient needs.
OMH expanded its efforts in April with a new Nursing Fellowship Program, designed to train and mentor nurse practitioners as they grow into independent providers. Twelve nurses are now enrolled in the initiative.
Across all health care settings statewide, New York is home to about 454,000 licensed nurses, including registered professional nurses, licensed practical nurses, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives. The American Nurses Association’s celebration of National Nurses Week runs through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale.
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