TEAS EXAM: I failed...Anyone take it with some advice?

Tdelaune4 · Sep 27, 2011

I am taking TEAS-V tomorrow and am scared to death! I have studied all of the ATI testing info and still feel COMPLETELY unprepared for the science section! This is so frustrating because I know that most of the crap they ask we will not need! Does anyone have a general idea of what the average scores are on this test? Good luck to any of you about to take it!

nvsmom · Sep 30, 2011

djxpress said:
Reading comprehension is really something you either have to know or you don't. It's not really something you can "learn" in a few weeks from a test prep guide. If the hurdle is because English is your second language, then I'd suggest taking a critical thinking or literature class to brush up on your understanding of English.

I don't believe this is true. I've always done well in English and Literature. I didn't study for the TEAS IV at all and received nineties and one-hundreds on the English and Reading sections. When I took the TEAS V, I scored in the seventies. The tests are very different..with the exception of math and science. For the math part, I'd suggest studying from the manual and online tests. For science part, I'd suggest studying the manual, too. But learn the concepts and processes, not just definitions.

Just because you don't do well on the TEAS doesn't mean you won't make a great nurse. There are nurses who ace their exams and classes when it came to their prerequisites, but cannot apply what they've learned on the floor. I've even seen nurses that don't know how to deal with people well. And quite frankly, if how you react online to the opinions of people who are trying to encourage other people is how you react in real life, I think you should contemplate if you have the understanding, patience, and tolerance to be a nurse.

PMHNP2023, RN · Sep 30, 2011

nvsmom said:
And quite frankly, if how you react online to the opinions of people who are trying to encourage other people is how you react in real life, I think you should contemplate if you have the understanding, patience, and tolerance to be a nurse.

When someone tries to use an online nursing forum as a platform to preach their religious beliefs (regardless of whether or not I'm religious as well) then all civility goes out the window.

In all honesty, if everyone could be a doctor that makes tons of money, don't you think everyone would? You bet they would, however some people just don't have the mental/emotional/physical/spiritual wherewithal to do it. There's a difference between shooting for the stars and having realistic goals.

Since that card was already played, maybe just maybe God is trying to say something?

With all due respect, when I'm in the hospital, I sure don't want someone pushing my meds who doesn't know the difference between a liter and a milliliter, or how to convert between the two.

And I do apologize to Pt108686, my post to her/him did come off as cold, which I realized after the fact.

ampizme · Nov 13, 2011

I get what you're saying - I certainly want a nurse who is competent at my bedside administering my meds too, but... I also feel that back in the day, nurses went to NURSING SCHOOL where they learned in a more clinical, hands on way. Most all my friends who have been nurses for 25 years or more have said they would never go to nursing school the way it is now; they are wonderful, competent nurses and they themselves have looked at the TEAS study guide and have told me they would never pass this test. It has become more of a weeding out process and many people who would be great nurses get left by the wayside. I don't need to know about rocks, clouds or MANY of the other things that are on that TEAS test to be a great nurse, and as far as the math section, there are only a couple of calculations that you will ever have to perform for dosage calculations - whether or not I can do a FOIL problem or an absolute value equation is irrelevant. Knowing whether to use a semicolon or a comma, or what a conjunction or adverb is isn't really pertinent to the profession either.

I'm 46 years old and trying to do this... I take my TEAS on Friday and I am scared to death about it. I may not pass or score high enough - but one thing I do know... if I were on the floor learning these things like they used to do when you went to nursing school, I could learn them without ANY problem and I know I would make an EXCELLENT nurse, and I'm certain the same is true of a lot of you out there who didn't pass the TEAS. So keep believing in yourselves and aiming for a profession that you can share your compassion for people. There are many nurses out there who are seriously lacking in that department - come to think of it...they ought to create a section for that on the TEAS.

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2011

I don't think the TEAS is unreasonable or hard. If you've already completed your pre-req's it's just a light review. Now I suppose if you had no pre-req's before taking it then it may be more difficult but at my school I took after taking bio, English, stats, chem, organic chem, a & p, pathophysiology, and several others so I barely studied at all and did fine on it. The only thing I don't like about it is the English part because I had an incredibly intelligent friend that was an esl student but and did great in all the other sections but English. I think for someone like her, also an excellent student that the test isn't fair and she missed out of our program and would have made an excellent great nurse but this is the only situation that I feel that way. Otherwise I can't see someone being successful in nursing school but can't pass that very basic test.

PNCC2001 · Nov 13, 2011

ampizme said:
I get what you're saying - I certainly want a nurse who is competent at my bedside administering my meds too, but... I also feel that back in the day, nurses went to NURSING SCHOOL where they learned in a more clinical, hands on way. Most all my friends who have been nurses for 25 years or more have said they would never go to nursing school the way it is now; they are wonderful, competent nurses and they themselves have looked at the TEAS study guide and have told me they would never pass this test. It has become more of a weeding out process and many people who would be great nurses get left by the wayside. I don't need to know about rocks, clouds or MANY of the other things that are on that TEAS test to be a great nurse, and as far as the math section, there are only a couple of calculations that you will ever have to perform for dosage calculations - whether or not I can do a FOIL problem or an absolute value equation is irrelevant. Knowing whether to use a semicolon or a comma, or what a conjunction or adverb is isn't really pertinent to the profession either.
I'm 46 years old and trying to do this... I take my TEAS on Friday and I am scared to death about it. I may not pass or score high enough - but one thing I do know... if I were on the floor learning these things like they used to do when you went to nursing school, I could learn them without ANY problem and I know I would make an EXCELLENT nurse, and I'm certain the same is true of a lot of you out there who didn't pass the TEAS. So keep believing in yourselves and aiming for a profession that you can share your compassion for people. There are many nurses out there who are seriously lacking in that department - come to think of it...they ought to create a section for that on the TEAS.

I agree 100%!

nvsmom · Nov 13, 2011

There seems to be no difference in the Math subject when it comes to TEAS IV or V. English and Reading are the subjects that are different from each version. It would be nice if the test included several basic and simple algebra problems and have the rest be conversions and dosage calculations, how to read a medicine bottle label, etc. But like I stated earlier, there is a big difference when it comes to the English and Reading section, TEAS IV vs TEAS V. I scored in the 90s and 100 when it came to the TEAS IV in this area, but in the low to mid-70s when it came to the TEAS V. Scored pretty much the same when it came to math and science.

I used to the TEAS IV score for applying to a nursing school, and I'm glad to say I've been accepted into a BSN program. I begin this January!

Msre23 · Dec 7, 2011

Pt108686 said:
I have one more chance to pass it. I can't seem to pass the reading comprehension part. Any suggestions? The ati guide does not help me at all.

How did you do your last try? Did you take teas 5?

marybraham · Dec 11, 2011

Amen!! I have failed that test 3 times and I do not believe that a test can determine a good or bad nurse. Let me tell ya I work with nurses who took the test and passed and they suck at being a nurse where the heck is the compassion these days. It was my dream to be a nurse and now I will half to take the long route meaning LVN to RN but I will not give up and neither should anyone else who wants to be a nurse!

kgregg · Mar 12, 2012

I was told the TEAS only tested you for reading Comp and math and that there was no science? Guess I was misinformed? Ugh!!!

CapeCodDreamer · Mar 24, 2012

kgregg said:
I was told the TEAS only tested you for reading Comp and math and that there was no science? Guess I was misinformed? Ugh!!!

The TEAS is reading comprehension (reading passages), science (life, physical, Earth, A&P, and the like), math (basic math), and English (spelling) and language usage (using the correct word in a sentence, definitions in context, etc.).

kgregg · Mar 25, 2012

CapeCodDreamer said:
The TEAS is reading comprehension (reading passages), science (life, physical, Earth, A&P, and the like), math (basic math), and English (spelling) and language usage (using the correct word in a sentence, definitions in context, etc.).

Thanks for the clarification.