---
title: "From Aspiring Doctor to Nursing Professor: Maryn Moreni’s Path to AZCN"
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/from-aspiring-doctor-to-nursing-professor-maryn-morenis-path-to-azcn/"
type: post
date_published: 2026-03-23
date_modified: 2026-04-10
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 954
reading_time: 5 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/from-aspiring-doctor-to-nursing-professor-maryn-morenis-path-to-azcn/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nursing-School-Professor-Maryn-Moreni.webp"
categories:
  - Nursing School
topic:
  - Nursing
---

# From Aspiring Doctor to Nursing Professor: Maryn Moreni’s Path to AZCN

![Nursing School Professor Maryn Moreni](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nursing-School-Professor-Maryn-Moreni.webp)

Maryn Moreni, a full-time faculty member and associate professor at Arizona
College of Nursing, has been at the college for almost 4 years, and her
enthusiasm is contagious. 

“I’m obsessed,” she says. “I love Arizona College. I feel like it’s Christmas
every day.” 

![Nursing Program Professor Maryn Moreni](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nursing-Program-Professor-Maryn-Moreni.webp?w=769)

Moreni’s passion for her job is rooted in the supportive environment that allows
her to focus on what matters most: the students. She praises the teamwork
between faculty, administration, and leadership that creates a seamless support
system. 

“The students aren’t coming to me as their faculty with every single thing that
I’m not capable of helping them with,” she explains. “It really takes the stress
off me. I can help them with the content, with their critical thinking, and with
all their face-level nursing stuff.”

Moreni highlights the many resources that are available to students on campus,
from the
[NCLEX Success Specialists](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/nclex-exam-prep/)
to student governance to tutoring services like Tutor.com and peer mentors. The
College makes sure to provide robust support, ensuring students always have a
place to turn. This allows Moreni to dedicate her time to teaching and
mentoring.  

But her path wasn’t always strictly nursing. She shares that at first, she
wanted to be a doctor. 

## 󠀁**How a Doctor’s Advice Changed Her Path**󠁿 

Moreni’s journey into nursing wasn’t a straight line. She originally attended
Arizona State with the intent to go into medical school. However, a conversation
with her godmother, a surgeon, and her husband, a doctor, changed her
perspective. 

“I told them my plans,” she recalls. “And by the end of it, they were like, ‘let
me tell you, you don’t want to be a doctor.’ I was like what? You’ve crushed my
dreams!” 

Her godmother and her husband then urged her to
[consider nursing](https://arizonacollege.edu/admissions/). Moreni recalls
quickly dismissing the idea. She wanted a career where she was in charge. But
soon, she learned the true v
[ersatility of a nursing degree](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/)
. She could become a nurse anesthetist or a nurse practitioner; there was no
limit to what she could do. 

## 󠀁**A Calling to Nursing Education**󠁿 

Now, Moreni teaches pharmacology, what she describes as her “first love.” She
fell in love with it during her NP training, thanks to a “22-year-old genius”
professor who “made me understand pharmacology.” Moreni now passes that passion
on to her own students. 

“If I could do it all over again, I would have just gone for my master’s in
nursing education and then worked my way through that,” she admits. 

Her love for teaching led her to earn her Certified Nurse Educator (CNE)
certification, a qualification she is incredibly proud of. She even piloted a
successful program at the college to help other faculty members prepare for and
pass the CNE exam. Her expertise is so well regarded that she has been asked by
the National League for Nursing (NLN) to write questions for the exam itself. 

![Nursing School Daisy Awards](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nursing-School-Daisy-Awards.webp?w=1024)

## Helping Students Succeed 

Moreni’s dedication to her students and their careers extends beyond the
classroom as she continues to take advantage of everything available to her. She
 constantly is doing her own research and currently serves as an NCLEX Success
Specialist.  

“I look at all of the NCLEX research on first time pass rates, what goes into
that, and how we can help our students,” she shares. Her ultimate goal is not
just to prepare her students to pass the exam on the first try, but to get them
to [fall in love with nursing](https://arizonacollege.edu/admissions/).  

Moreni strives to help her students become safe and effective nurses. She brings
all 
[different types of learning styles into the classroom](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/bsn-program-course-descriptions/)
, from providing potential NCLEX questions to videos to real-life stories and
scenarios, sharing with her students true stories of things that have happened
to nurses who have made mistakes. 

She also loves coaching her students, especially the “most improved” ones. She
shares the story of a student who started with only a 26% predictor of passing
her NCLEX but, through hard work and self-leadership, passed on the first try.
“It’s a democracy, not a dictatorship,” Moreni says, explaining her
collaborative approach to student success. 

Moreni is a firm believer in the advantages of having diverse backgrounds and
experiences. She notes that while research shows that students for whom English
is not their first language may have a reduced chance of passing the NCLEX on
the first attempt, they also have a higher chance of succeeding in nursing
school. 

“If you can learn an additional language, you can definitely learn something
like nursing,” she says, encouraging her students to view their unique skills as
an advantage. 

This year, one of Moreni’s biggest wins has been her use of a “classroom
assessment technique,” where she asks students to share their “muddiest point”
from a lecture. “When a student says they didn’t think they could do it, but now
they’re confident, that is one of my biggest wins,” she shares. 

For Moreni, being a nurse is all about caring for people. Her switch from a
demanding clinical role to a fulfilling career in nursing education has allowed
her to do just that. Through her dedication, mentorship, and boundless
enthusiasm, she is helping to shape the next generation of safe, effective, and
compassionate nurses. 

**Categories:** Nursing School