CLPN

:angryfire I think that we should advocate for ourselves and the students who are following us. It it totally crazy to have your future ride on a test that is for diagnostic purposes and is nothing like the NCLEX as far as I can see. Hesi is good for showing you your weaknesses that's all. Just because you failed the Hesi does not mean that you will fail your NCLEX esp. if you are practicing questions. NCLEX review classes are nice for the NCLEX, the Hesi in my opinion is nothing like the NCLEX. My director suggested that I take an NCLEX review course that costs $400 and then come back to the school and pay $35.00 more dollars to take the Hesi. On top of that my NCLEX examination application has been processed since March I paid $275.00 for that and $75.00 for my fingerprints. What new grad has money to burn; this is BULL.

I agree, don't use the Hesi book it's terrible. I suggest that you practice as many NCLEX questions as you can and if you do decide to buy a review book I would purchase the Kaplan RN-NCLEX Review 2007-2008 version it reasonable $35.00 it give great strategies on how to answer and identify what the questions are asking you.

I'm a RN graduate and we had to take a midterm and exit Hesi. The bad part about it is we were allowed to walk at our graduation and without receiving our diploma (just an empty case) until we passed the exit Hesi exam. We receive an "I", we are allowed to take the Hesi test and have to pass within 90 days after graduation and if we don't pass it with an 850 we will recieve an "F" for a grade despite the fact that everything that was in our academic curriculum is completed. I called Hesi and asked what was the purpose of their test and I was told that it for diagnostic purposes and that the nursing programs are the ones who make the decision on how high to set the passing rate and to withhold a students diploma/degree. Personally, I think that the purpose of a nursing program is to prepare you to take the NCLEX not to become a nurse. You learn a become a professional by working on the floor and gaining experience, a book, test and case studies can't do that because we don't live in a textbook world. The Hesi test shows your weak areas and just because you passed the Hesi with a high score doesn't mean that you'll pass your NCLEX and the same thing goes if you don't pass the Hesi. It can't predict what the outcome for your NCLEX will be. I'm not saying not to work on the areas that you are weak in, I don't agree with these educational programs that withhold a student's diploma/degree for a test that holds no weight. Instead of helping you the Hesi is killing a lot of students and it's not fair. Think about it you have gone through Hell to graduation and your entire future is based on a test that doesn't give you a license to practice. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we have to pay $35.00 each time we have to take the Hesi and each time they change to a different version of the test.