How difficult is the HESI exam?

Black Jade, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2011

Difficult enough that only about seven students from our class passed the first time. We had three attempts to pass and those who didn't, wouldn't be able to graduate. But because it was a trial and we were all panicking, the instructors decided to just give extra points according to the percentage scored.

KimN · Oct 8, 2011

What kind of exam is it .. entrance, exit, etc? my school requires that we take TWO hesis per term that count as our midterm and final... yes that equals to SIX per year and we have to pass them both the first time to progress to the next term... needless to say we have lost almost half of our original class!! So i'm not sure that ours are great comparisons to a one time exit exam but I have to tell you that they are ROUGH! I have heard from others who have transfered out and taken only the exit that they aren't as bad ... but from my experience it's kind of a crap shoot. The questions are not like NCLEX questions at all... don't believe anyone that says that! I'm sorry and really don't mean to freak you out... i'm sure there will be plenty of people who have more positive experiences taking it as a one time exam .. but at my school it's a "I had to make sure I wore my lucky underware today" kind of exam. I truly wish you the best of luck and am already holding my breath for my next hesi exam in two weeks!