by verandoug

I had called elsevierhealth the other day before even coming to this site and the nice representative HIGHLY recommended Hesi. She said that I would have five tries to pass and if I didn't, I would have to repurchase the whole thing. She said the questions were difficult but that this would prepare me for the exam. Her recommendation was based on feedback from people taking the NCLEX. I am just curious. Has anyone tried this?

Vera

Re: Hesi

We've had Hesi as a part of our nursing "exam" at school. I thought their questions were harder.

May I recommend Kaplan/Hurst to you?

I've personally tried Kaplan. I learned that by signing up with a review school it guided me in a sense where I am not just all over the place and not knowing where to start. In other words, I used Kaplan to assist me with time management.

And one more thing. I also have the HESI book and didn't even used to prepare for my nursing.

Books that I used:
1. Incredibly Made Easy Questions and Answers with Rationales.
2. Saunders, but I mainly used the CD to answer the questions, I didn't feel the rationales were as good as Incredibly made easy.
3. Kaplan


I believe hurst is almost like kaplan.

Re: Hesi

Originally Posted by coolnovember

I've personally tried Kaplan. I learned that by signing up with a review school it guided me in a sense where I am not just all over the place and not knowing where to start. In other words, I used Kaplan to assist me with time management.

I have been reading Saunders. I started out with Mosby's because, believe it or not, in 1980 their program helped me to pass the NCLEX. Back then it was called "state boards." But I found errors and inconsistencies in the book and so Barnes and Nobles graciously let me exchange it for Saunders. I am not completely out of touch with what is going on. I remember many things and teaching has kept me abreast of some of the disease processes etc. I worked NICU for many years and so I know, for example, what a blood gas should look like. I know when a client is experiencing respiratory acidosis as opposed to metabolic because I've seen it and know it. With my age and experience, I have a lot of personal situations to draw from. The real problem for me personally in answering questions is perspective of the nurse these days. For example, we never called a patient a "client." That would have been taboo back in my day because it would have probably been thought of as inappropriate. The ability for patients to dictate their care has changed a great deal too. I remember at times when patients seemed to lose their autonomy in the hospital and the doctors and nurses took authority.

For example, in yet another one of my practice questions, a mom was not really responding to her newborn because of a precipitous delivery. I don't remember all the answers but the first one was to have the baby nurse and the second was to support the mom in what she was doing. I chose that she should nurse the baby because when I took state boards, that would have been the answer to help the mom and baby bond. Now, because mom is a "client," the nurse is simply there to support her in however she wants to do things. It is a whole different prespective than the past like I said.

Oh well..... It's like riding a bicycle but one that has completely changed.
Thanks for the help! I was just curious if anyone had actually taken their tests and found them of value.
Vera