HESI Questions & Encouragement Needed!

[bewitched]

so, i was a great student in high school and got into the university of florida, no problem. but for the next two years, i worked my butt off trying to commute 2 hrs a day and do all of my pre-bsn nursing program coursework. despite my hardest effort, i was still only pulling c's and b's--and even failing anatomy the first time around. in my entire time at uf i never got a single a--despite the fact that i spent every night at home studying, totally alienated my friends to try and improve my grades, and completely stressed out everyone i lived with. i've done so poorly that i lost my 100% scholarship through florida bright futures, and with an overall 2.6 gpa and prenursing 2.59, i don't stand a chance in hell of getting into the uf nursing program.

so i've decided that instead of switching my uf major to something else (i'm not interested in anything else and none of my science courses match up with any other major) i've decided that the wisest course of action would be to attend the community college in my home town. i dual-enrolled there in high school and got all a's and b's with minimal effort, so i know that i can do well there, and it takes away the considerable stress of driving 2 hrs a day just to get to class, as well as cutting the cost in half, and i could even regain my 100% scholarship if i do well. i want to do their adn program, which will take two years, then take an adn-bsn course online through one of the many colleges that offer it here in fl. i'm kind of worried that i might be looked down upon as an adn rn instead of a bsn rn, at least until i finish the bsn program online. so... i guess i'd just love to hear that you guys think i'm doing the right thing!

the advisor has told me my grades won't be a problem, that i'll get into the nursing program with them, but i have to take the hesi exam first. i've got to get an 80% or higher on math, reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary. the test includes the science portions, but the advising office said that they do not consider the scores for those sections for admission. so i picked up the study guide--which was a waste of $40--and photocopied the pages i felt like i needed work on, then returned the actual book.

my questions are:

(1) is there calculator/scratch paper to use on the hesi?

(2) is the math the multiplication/division/addition/subtraction found in the study guide, or is it more of conversions, like medications, ccs, etc? is it fractions and decimals and military time, too?

(3) from what i can tell in the study guide, the vocabulary section is supposed to be a lot of medical terminology. i've taken a med term course so a lot of the terms in the study guide were familiar to me... how hard do you think this section of the hesi was/will be?

i'm really glad to have found this forum and get some answers from everyone here. =) thanks

[FutureMaleOhioNurse, BSN, RN]

I'll admit that the HESI A2 Review Book was very poorly edited and confusing at times, but I'll also admit that the math and vocabulary portions of the book were helpful to me. I got a 96 on the math, 87 on the vocabulary, 98 on the writing, and a 92 on the reading. My composite score was a 93.7. In terms of math, know proportions, like 2:4::?:10 = 5, conversions, like "how many oz. are there in 2 gallons?" (you will not be given a conversion chart, so you must memorize), military time, like 2:30 pm = 1430 hours, roman numerals, like XXXVI = 36, and simple x, -, +, and /. Also, know how to convert percentages to decimals to fractions and back. Most of the vocabulary words on the test were on the review book, so study those. The rest should just be a quick review, stuff that you've been learning your entire life like spelling and grammar. By the way, I got into nursing school with a

[bewitched]

Thanks for all that info, and I'm encouraged to hear about your acceptance w/ a 2.5, gives me some hope! =D When you took the hesi, was there a basic calculator provided for you? I've heard they give you one and I was just wondering if I need to stress over long division, which I've never been good at, or if they'll give me a calculator to divide on.

[crazytmogirl]

The grammar and vocab are JUST like the study guide. There is a math calculator built in, but it's very basic. You'll just push a button and it pops up. From what I recall, there were no questions about sentence structure, and it was all very simple. I got 100% on grammar and I think 97% on vocab. There were a lot of questions asking you to pick the option that would make the sentence correct, questions asking you what was making the sentence incorrect, etc. It's all VERY similar to the study guide. I personally made sure that I knew how to do all of the problems in the study guide by hand, but that was just for my own personal comfort. But, by all means, the calculator is there so definitely at least use it to check your answers. But know how to do all things in regards to fractions because there isn't a fraction button on that thing.

[livelikegold]

i took the hesi test on 6/18 i bought the study guide and studied. I did well i tested in math94 vocab84 & reading90. i only needed 70 to get in to Central Texas Lvn program

[stayfocus]

Congrats on passing your hesi (livelikegold). Best wishes to you, what study guide did you use or do you know the ISBN # for it

[bewitched]

Took the HESI today, it DID NOT have a calculator, so anyone who comes to this thread wanting to know if there is one on your particular test, know that there may be, or there may not be! Also, test scores were not instant, as I had heard they were supposed to be.

With that said, I did really good on the test.

Reading Comprehension 95.65%

Grammar 98%

Vocabulary 96%

Math 94%

I also did so-so on the sciences, even though we don't need them to get into the ADN program.

Biology 84%

A&P 84%

Chemistry 76%

I used the Evolve HESI Study Guide from my college bookstore, and also reviewed last night with the very helpful study guide PDF from West Coast University. That one was a lifesaver, I relearned subtraction with regrouping, decimals, and long division last night! =D

Good luck on your test stayfocus!

[stayfocus]

Congrats to you, you did awesome on the Hesi I am so nervous about taking it. My goal is to try and take it in August so I will keep you posted on everything.. Congrats again, I knew you could do it.

[stayfocus]

I forgot to tell you for wishing me luck and what kind of A and p question did they ask in general.

[stayfocus]

Thanks, my typing is horrible today! LOL iseult)

[casriley76]

Does anyone have the HESI study guide pdf? [email protected] Thanks in advance

[bewitched]

Hmm. I don't remember too many of the A&P questions because I flew through them, it was the last section I did. But I do remember there were questions about the planes (sagittal, coronal, etc. etc.), the anatomy of the heart, a few things about tissues... no "identify this tissue" though which was a relief, I'm not very good at those.

Also, the biology section was really more of a physiology section, I felt like. It had questions about how the human body in specific worked.

In general, A&P and Bio were fairly broad, not super-specific details. Chemistry... meh, I hated Chem the class, and I'm shocked I did so well on the section because I just chose C when I didn't know the answer.

On mine, Math, Reading, Vocab, and Grammar each had 55 questions, while the sciences just had 30 each, which was nice. IDK how anyone else's test might be set up.

[valzRN, ASN, RN]

So, I am new here and I was reading through the HESI statements and questions. Got much information from the thread and I thank you all. I do have a question though...

I was in a nursing program in my hometown and only had ONE more class to take and I failed cardiac by ONE point. I retook the class and then failed the same class by TWO points! I can't figure out what happened, as I studied more than ever that second time around. I figured that it wasn't meant to be. Well, after a year of being out of school, I decided that I just could not accept that failure. I mean... if I had failed miserably, then yes, I could accept that. But, it was ONLY ONE POINT!

I applied to another college that is about an hour and a half's drive from where I live and they have told me that I can test into their program and earn my RN in 2 terms. I have to take a HESI exam, skills test, and dosage and solutions test. I am not worried about the skills, as I have been a CNA for 17 years and am still working in the field right now. I read about the HESI and that seems like the test to enter nursing school that I took 2 years ago when I applied for the original program. I scored very well on that, although it was called the NET exam.

This test that I am having to take for this college... she said that I had to take the HESI... I guess my question is this. Does that test not have NCLEX style questions on it? I am totally confused now. For the last week I have dragged out all my old notes from the previous program, studied up on my labs, meds, etc... and have been practicing with a Saunders NCLEX-RN review book. Am I studying the wrong thing???

The director told me what I needed to study up on, but what she told me and what is here, doesn't sound like the same thing to me... can someone clarify for me???

Thank you in advance!