Angela Azuma, RN
Angela Azuma, RN, CTTS is a dedicated outpatient mental health nurse with over a decade of experience in psychiatric nursing. She began her nursing journey as an LPN in 2010 and became a registered nurse in 2013, focusing her entire career on mental health since 2011. Angela currently works at a community hospital-based outpatient mental health clinic within St. Peter's Health Partners, where she provides long-acting injections, health education, clinical teaching, and runs smoking cessation groups as a certified tobacco treatment specialist. Her early nursing experience included pediatric residential treatment, as well as medical-surgical work with hospice and oncology patients.
Angela’s path to nursing was unconventional. She entered the profession at age 36 as a single mother of two, after careers in real estate and civil engineering, driven by a desire to make a more direct impact on people’s lives. She completed both her LPN and RN programs at Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing and has continually expanded her expertise in mental health and holistic care. Currently, she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Holistic Nursing at Pacific College of Health and Sciences, with expected graduation in May 2027.
Beyond her clinical work, Angela is founding a nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention, community support, outreach, training, and education. Her career reflects a commitment to compassionate, evidence-based care, patient education, and community empowerment, combining clinical skill with advocacy and mentorship to support mental health at both individual and community levels.
• Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, LPN
• Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, Associate's Degree in Nursing
• Pacific College of Health and Sciences, Bachelor of Science in Holistic Nursing (expected May 2027)
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
• Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist
• American Holistic Nurse Association
• Psychiatric Nurse Association
• New York State
• Founding a nonprofit organization for suicide prevention awareness
• community support
• outreach
• training and education
• modeled after Save a Life Today in Kern County
• California
Areas of Specialization/Expertise
- Long-acting injections
- Health education
- Tobacco treatment
- Holistic nursing
What do you enjoy most about practicing medicine?
I think my background really gives me the ability to have some candid conversations with my patients. Obviously without sharing my whole story, but I can really connect with them on a level that they know that I understand where they're coming from, and I get it. I can have better conversations with them and make them feel more comfortable and trusting of the services that I can give them. I'm grateful that I became a nurse as a much older adult, because I think if I had done it right out of high school, like a lot of people do, I wouldn't have had the life behind me to be able to connect with people like I do now. That's really important to me.