NVCC Fall '09

yes we had them! When u get ur syllabus look at that and wil tel you if they are worth anything! majority of ours were not, i think the final exit one was worth a few marks if u got above a certain level! Since they were worth nothing----I didnt study for them, and to be honest, didnt even pay attention to them! My goal was to complete them as fast as possible!! My time was better spent studying for exams that did count! But thats just my opnion,lol Oh yes, the last HESI test, if you scored below a certain level, you had to do it again! So fork over another $30! But if ya bombed that one, you still passed the program!! Waste of $$$$ Some schools force you to achieve a certain level to pass there program! Otherwise they dont release you papework to write the NCLEX!! Hopefully NVCC doesnt go that route!!

Can you give me an idea of the type of question that they ask? Are they even nursing related? I can't imagine that they would be related to anything we haven't learned yet. Are they just common sense type of questions? And finally, are they hard?

Yes, they are nursing related and related to what ur taking for the most part. There just like question one sees in Saunders 4th edition NCLEX book. later one they send you the results and let you know ur strengths/weaknesses! Honestly, I never went back and looked at the results,lol Could it possibly help you?? maybe a bit. but I think,ones time is better spent the assigned material. The HESI's are suppose to let you know ur weaknesses to help prepare for NCLEX. Just take kaplan, I enjoyed the course and it is a very good refresher when the time comes!!

I just find it interesting that we take the test the day after school starts, what do they expect us to know. But if you are right and they don't count and they are only for showing us our weaknesses, then I kind of don't really care...

We never had 1 that close into the semester, was usually mid way thru! In my opinion, they are a waste of $$$$. one has to prioritize their time during school and the HESi exams were not even on my list,lol Literally, I walked in to write the exam, and wasn't long til i was leaving! But make sure you read the syllabus to see if they are worth any points! I was never in danger of failing, so extra points didn't mean much to me.

We were wondering the same thing our first year. We didn't learn anything yet, why are we taking that test? It was not hard, but I took my time and did very well. Some questions were about prioritizing. Let's say you have four patients. Who do you attend to first? You are offered a box of candy. Are you taking it, sharing it, or refusing it? I do not remember any other questions.

I just failed my HESI test for NUR255 last week (number of reasons). Nothing happened :) Made me feel sad, that's all.

Oh yes, i know recall the first HESi exam--was meant to test ur critical thinking skills! They will test that gain in the last semester to see if u have improve ur critical thinking!! Not something one could study for, nor something to worry about.

What does HESI stand for?

Health Education Systems Inc.

Ah see now...that tells you how much of a noob I am! Thanks!

all I did was google it...

I didn't know (or care) what it stood for either

In teaching, we joke about all the different (and very bizarre at times) acronyms we have...looks like that isn't singular to teaching!

But I have to give props to whoever decided to name our standardized tests 'SOLs'. Ha!