Hello fellow educators....I am dealing with a dilema which I have no control over as I am a staff member, not administration, but it is just eating away at my concious. My community college uses the HESI exit exam for the ADN and LVN programs. Regardless of how good your GPA is, clinical performance and so on....along April or so, you have to pass a "exit exam" with a score of 850 or better in order to "Walk with your diploma". If you fail to pass the test you are allowed to take it again. If you fail again, you are out. Don't pass go, don't collect you monopoly money!!!! The problem I have with it, and I am not alone in this, IS>>> a couple of students each year per program, fails the HESI, despite being quality nursing students and according to the census of most instructors would pass the NCLEX with no problems. Other schools in our area use the HESi,but as a tool to help the students focus on their areas of weakness. I feel we should not leave it up to a third party vendor to make or break these kids, who have put their lives on hold, pawned everything they own, just to be one of us.
Am I normal to feel this way? I have discussed it with other staff and told it is the policy of the college network, DON'T go there...etc.
Your viewpoints would be appreciated. I just want my students to all have a shot at NCLEX after proving themselves to me, not a private vendor.
what school do you go to that you can take the HESI
what school do you go to that you can take the HESI more than once I have not taken it my second time and I am having second thoughts about taking it maybe I should save my second chance and see if it is possible to try to get into another school what are my chances at that
Several classmates and I failed the Hesi, also. Most were already LPN's. Some of us that weren't LPN's switched over to an LPN program. That school and all the instructors were so helpful. We joined into the last level and not 1 of us had any trouble with NCLEX. As a matter of fact, I learned more in the 2-3 months that I was in the LPN program than I learned the 2 1/2 years I wasted my time in the RN program. If it weren't for the Hesi, I would have graduated the RN program without ever doing a foley catheter! Several of us wrote letters to the mayor, governor, state board, NLN, you name it... they got a letter. I was informed by State Board that as long as the school is following the broad range of requirements that it has to, then the school can do what they want to do. Our instructor told us everday how we were not worthy of an RN degree. We were not allowed to question anything that was on any of our exams. We had "silent" test reviews and if anyone made a noise, the whole class got yelled at for 30 minutes. I could go on and on! Needless to say, my RN school experience was horrible!
Whatever you do, don't give up! Talk to different LPN programs and tell them your situation & just see what they can offer you & take the best one. I should have started the LPN program to begin with. The instructors I had were actually on our side and wanted you to learn and pass. You've come too far to give up!
Thank you so very much for your wisdom and insight and you have given me hope I just found out that I am taking the HESI in DEC can you imagine they are making us wait from the time I completed the program May 9, 2009 until DEC. wow I will have lots of time to study or forget but I am a hard worker and I will do my best but thank god you have given me hope and I know now that I can take an LPN program can you please let me know which LPN program you went to and where it is located thank you again AMPARO
Why, after everything written here on this FACULTY thread, and in other threads, would you not look at this time as an opportunity to improve for both the HESI and the NCLEX??? Here in AZ, it shows prospective employers on your license how many attempts it took to pass the NCLEX. There is no longer a shortage, and this could affect your ability to find employment. I know nurses with several years experience in specialty areas that cannot get their regular shifts& pay. I am rather tired of hearing about how students are victims. The state board is responsible for public safety. You have to be able to prove your competency, and that is what this is all about.
The HESI is not the same as the NCLEX it is 10x more difficult and it is designed to help schools raise their percentage of the number of students who pass the NCLEX, it is a tool to weed out those who don't or won't pass the NCLEX on the first try it is a tool to help the school not the student. It is not fair to the student because after 2-4 years of study to become an RN you might do very well in your classes and you might pass the NCLEX, but if you can't pass HESI which is given and written by an outside testing agency you might never get a chance to take the NCLEX.
Imagine you have say 26,000.00 dollars in student loans like I do and you take all your prereqs and then 2 years of nursing and clinicals and please lets not forget nursing is your life's goal, but since the school must gear it's curriculum toward passing the nlcex (but they do give you a book to study hesi on your own) you are taught to pass nclex not the HESI. So after school is over you must report to an outside testing angency which gives a test that is nothing like nclex and their are so many questions (160) that you are unfamiliar with plus their questions are so vague that some of my instructors couldn't even get the answers correct.
Well if you don't get an 870 which is pretty high on the test you only get 1 more chance and then you must pay and take your last year of nursing all over again after which you can get 1 more chance at hesi and if you don't pass you never get to take hesi and school is over and you owe lots of money and you can never be an RN unless you find another school and you start all over again.
So it's pretty unfair and it doesn't prove competency like nclex but what your chances are of passing nclex on the first try. Schools lose their right to provide an RN class if they don't retain a high passing rate of the nclex and the student must pass nclex the first time or it counts against the school. So usually out of 70 students only 6-10 pass and then they all do pass nclex and a school like mine's has a 100 % pass rate and they look great to prespective new students who have no idea that they may end up in debt and never get a chance to even try to take the nclex.
So who is this really unfair to? If you go thru 4 years of school and pass all your classes and clinicals I feel you should get a chance to take the nclex, and it should not be determined by an outside testing agency if you can take NCLEX or not or if you are competent. The state of NY out lawed the hesi and their are numerous lawsuits about the hesi but if I had been told what I know now I would not have went to my current school because I may never get the chance to become an RN. I hope you understand a little better now and instead of being tired of students complaining have some compassion because we work hard to get to be where you are and we also love nursing and only want to be the best we can be but we want a fair chance to at least get to nclex and let them judge our competency not an outside agency. Thanks I would love to hear your thoughts on this now.
Several classmates and I failed the Hesi, also. Most were already LPN's. Some of us that weren't LPN's switched over to an LPN program. That school and all the instructors were so helpful. We joined into the last level and not 1 of us had any trouble with NCLEX. As a matter of fact, I learned more in the 2-3 months that I was in the LPN program than I learned the 2 1/2 years I wasted my time in the RN program. If it weren't for the Hesi, I would have graduated the RN program without ever doing a foley catheter! Several of us wrote letters to the mayor, governor, state board, NLN, you name it... they got a letter. I was informed by State Board that as long as the school is following the broad range of requirements that it has to, then the school can do what they want to do. Our instructor told us everday how we were not worthy of an RN degree. We were not allowed to question anything that was on any of our exams. We had "silent" test reviews and if anyone made a noise, the whole class got yelled at for 30 minutes. I could go on and on! Needless to say, my RN school experience was horrible!
Whatever you do, don't give up! Talk to different LPN programs and tell them your situation & just see what they can offer you & take the best one. I should have started the LPN program to begin with. The instructors I had were actually on our side and wanted you to learn and pass. You've come too far to give up!
And also... PRAY!! God will answer!
Thanks for you advice but can you please tell me the name and location of the LPN school that accepted you I really need a back up plan and if I have to become an LPN then I will and try again for RN at a later date. Thanks! You can email me through my profile page or send me a private message (PM).
i know this is a year later but even worse happened to us regarding the hesi please read my thread i started under illinois nurses its called hesi destroys lives in chicago or better yet read the one under nursing faculty-nursing educators-/hesi exit test it post number 190 done on 7/2/09 it all about how some of the answers were given to some of the students and how the school is treating the students who didn't have the answers. you really need to read this there are so many people who didn't pass hesi and are not nurses their lives are ruined. please look into to this thanks so much if you need help please email and i can send you a copy. i am going to see if i can paste it to this message.you can email me through my profile page or send me a private message (pm). thanks again
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jul 02, 2009, 01:26 am
re: hesi exit test
i am a victim of the devastating effects of the hesi. i have bad news for those who are fighting the hesi thru the city colleges. over spring break wia which is a source of school funding that people who attend city colleges are aware of tried to get a hesi reviewer in and pay for it. students who don't have wia such as myself and 13 others were not invited to the hesi review. wia at the last minute decided not to pay for the review because it is not part of the city of chicago colleges curriculm but our esteem interim director decided to allow the review to be held and students pay for it out of their own pockets it was 225.00 imagine having to come up with that at the last minute and most of us can't work in our final year. anyway the people who took the review were told quite a few of the answers to the test hesi version 1(all the students were not informed of the review they didn;t call us or let us know that they were having a hesi review). after completing our final year and passing we took a 3 day board paid for nclex review at malcom x college and then we got only 1 day to study for hesi in fact we take hesi the end of the week after our finals so we get no time to study for hesi because we are studying to pass finals (and then the 3 day review starts ) they don't even give us a week to study for hesi.
the day before hesi the students who were at the review were emailed 80 of the answers to the questions of hesi version -1 test so for the first time ever olive harvey passed 70 students at one time some people finished the four hour test within 1 hour how about that. we who didn't get answers mailed to us were called to the school monday the day after the test and were told that some type of computer malfunction happened and those who failed could retake the test because some answers weren't recorded correctly, not everyone would retake the test just those who failed. well we were given the answers to the test version that day, which was one day after the test and of course we went in with confidence because never have 70 people passed and we were finally given the answers to 80 of the questions just like everyone else.
the test was changed and it was much more difficult plus we spent all night studying the answers to version 1 just like the 70 classmates who had the answers saturday nite before the test. (i did ask my so called friends why would they not call everyone and make sure they had the information and i was told they thought everyone had it afterall they got it the day before the test so the had to spend the only 1 day we get to study memorizing the answers). well of course i failed 836 as well as did my other classmates. one of my classmates who failed was president of the student nurses assoc. and one of our class officers. we didn't get to graduate or take part in the pinning ceremony and i owe over 38,000.00 in student loans i did so well in school i got excellent grades and worked my fanny off. now i will never be a nurse and i am 40yrs old i wasted 4 years of my life and i have nothing but debt to show for it.
we are not being given another review like last years students who didn't pass hesi got because it was of course so many of them just like it is every year. this year nearly the whole class passed so they are completely abandoning us. i emailed the director and she emailed me back that she is on vacation and would not answer any email until she got back aug. 17th my classmate went to see the dean and now she is answering us but only because they have too. they could care less how they have destroyed our lives. i found a document with students names who have failed the hesi and that is year after year most students and i wondered what happens to all theses people 40-50 students per school where are they?
we got a letter saying we must pay for our own review to take the test for the second time. the first time where the 70 students passed doesn't count only the second time counted. (i know that evolve and the entire school knows that wide spread cheating went on but no one will admit it, i did get the answer sheet one day after the test and probably i wouldn't be this upset if i had of been one of those who passed cause i am aware that the odds are against us they don't teach us to pass hesi we do that on our own. so without the help the students who passed got most of them would not have passed some of them barely passed their classes.) last year the school paid for a rayfield review to come in and teach the students before they tested a second time this year we get nothing and if you don't have the money to pay for your own review by 7/3/09 you can't take the test until dec. how about that? for unfairness. they told us by letter that we must pay for our own review and we must provide proof and then we can retest on 7/17/09 or in dec.
i would have never wasted my money and time going to nursing school working like a dog if i had known this would happen, i understand why there is a nursing shortage? i wonder if we can take the lpn or are we just stuck with nothing? i don't know what to do should i wait till dec when i will have forgotten everything or is it possible to get into another nursing school? can anyone help or give me some answers thanks in advance for any help
Thats whats been told to me and I was trying to find out information on how it was done but if the information I was given is wrong please correct me. I am studying so hard every day to pass the hesi and i think I have scared myself to death so I am going to study and pray and just do it
jul 02, 2009, 01:26 am
AmparoG-Mckinley
38 Posts
what school do you go to that you can take the HESI more than once I have not taken it my second time and I am having second thoughts about taking it maybe I should save my second chance and see if it is possible to try to get into another school what are my chances at that