Professor Denise Menonna-Quinn DNP, RN-BC, AOCNS, BMTCN, has been instructing nursing students for more than 25 years, beginning with her first teaching job in 1997 at Felician college. “I came back to Felician University six years ago. It is the best place to work, and I hope to be here for many, many years.”  

Now a Professor in Felician University’s BSN Program, Dr. Menonna-Quinn is an experienced clinical educator with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and health care industry. She appreciates the many resources Felician University offers its nursing students including a cutting-edge simulation lab. “The Sim Lab is a complete replication of a hospital setting. The equipment, resources, staff, and learning environment are all wonderful and that is a huge draw. If you had an A-Team in Nursing this would be the A-Team and the bar keeps getting raised every day which helps each professor to work as hard as possible, because there is always something to strive for.”   

Health Assessment and Fundamentals is one of Prof. Menonna-Quinn’s favorite courses to teach. “It is where students learn how to talk to patients and decipher information from a patient’s chart, incorporating the medical diagnosis and developing a plan for how you would treat that patient based on your assessment.” Medical Surgical Nursing is her specialty, with a subspeciality in oncology. She also teaches Medical Surgical Nursing I and Medical Surgical Nursing II. Dr. Menonna-Quinn likes to mesh what students learn in theory and apply it to practice. She says she runs a “tight ship” and expects students to come to class prepared. “I expect them to be respectful, professional in appearance and in actions, and provide the highest quality care with compassion.”    

Prof. Menonna-Quinn went to Holy Name Hospital Nursing School, then received her bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s University, a master’s from Seton Hall University and her doctorate from William Paterson University. Before returning to Felician University as a full-time faculty member, she taught at Bergen Community College, St. Peter’s University, and William Paterson University. She says teaching during a pandemic, “almost felt like a Sci-Fi movie, but it showed the importance of being flexible and the benefits of remote learning. “That being said there is nothing better than being face to face with students especially in the pre-licensure category.”    

In addition to teaching, Prof. Menonna-Quinn has written two books related to nursing education. She wrote the first book, The DNP Navigation Guide, with her mentor from 30 years ago, who encouraged her to get her doctorate degree. Her second book, The Oncology Nursing Certification Review, set to be published in April by Springer Publishing, is a review book designed to help prepare nurses for the certification exam in oncology. I wrote my second book in the middle of the pandemic, and I have to be honest, I almost gave up because of you know life, pandemic, work, and school, but I did it and it will be out in April, and I am really proud of it.” 

Prof. Menonna-Quinn, a firm believer in the educational process, went back to teaching when her children were in high school and says teaching has always been her passion. “Once I finished my degree, I just had to go back to teaching and now it is my primary focus.” Prof. Menonna-Quinn says her motto is to never give up even when faced with obstacles. “That is what I try to impart to my students, that if you want to do this, it is attainable, if you work hard and never give up.” She also tells students that Nursing school, especially the simulation lab, “is a safe zone and anything that happens here stays here. This is where you need to make your mistakes, so you will not make mistakes when you are taking care of alive people. It is okay to make mistakes in nursing school otherwise you would not be here.” 

Dr. Menonna-Quinn appreciates the Felician Franciscan values that guide the University saying, “I worked here in 2016 with students of many different religious beliefs. One of my favorite things was when a Felician Sister would come to the Sim Lab to say a prayer and give a blessing.”    

Looking ahead Dr. Menonna-Quinn says she just loves being with students and teaching them the foundations and importance of nursing. She says she was thrilled when her colleagues told her when a position opened at Felician University saying, “I am so excited to be back where I started, and just so grateful to be part of this team.”