Question about Hesi exit exam

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I just recently got accepted into the RN Program. I have orientation in over a couple of weeks. At the end of the orientation day, we will have a practice Hesi exit exam but it's not for a grade. It's just to see how much we know. The minimum passing score for the Hesi exit exam for here is 850. Even though it's practice, I want to score at least that. But the real Hesi exam comes after you complete the RN program. You have 3 shots to pass it. And if you don't pass it, you don't get to take RN boards. So my question is this:

Can someone out there give me any advice on how to prepare for the Hesi exam? I pray and I have the Hesi book already, but any other preparation techniques will be greatly appreciated. There were quite a few students before me that didn't pass it and I was told that a professor said, "they just forgot about basics." Whoever responds to this thread, God knows that I will be truly appreciative. I was the student who had to drop out of RN school last year due to my husbands surgury. Well the Lord has given me a second chance.

Ro

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Hello! First I want to tell you that all things are possible with Jesus. I am in my last four months of nursing school and if it had not been for the lord who was on my side I would not be here. I purchase the Hesi book and at first it did not help me at all. But as I got further along in the program the information started making sense. What I was told by my friend is when it is time to start studying for that exit Hesi go back over all your systems and know the disease process like the back of your hand and after you have done that start answering your nclex questions. Also go online to Kaplan.com and see if they are offering the review class in your town and attend it . I am going this summer the class is very expensive but with the lords help if it will get me through that Hesi passing it on the first time it is worth it. May the Lord bless and Good Luck.

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hhhmmmm...i wonder what school you go to, because that sounds exactly like my school and what the professors said...

i just graduated, and took the exit HESI exam. all the same rules applied for us that they did for you (850, 3 times, etc). first, you are about to enter the hardest 2 years of your life. most of the time, that exit HESI will be the farthest thing from your mind..

for us, we did a mid term HESI that gave us a score, but didnt really count. it was just to let you know how you were doing. i got a really good score...

for your professors to say it was about the basics, is just pure wrong, and i am sure they have never seen the questions. there was nothing basic about the questions. they were specific diseases (odd ones, that were not taught in school, and were never seen in clinicals), and you even had to know if some meds were compatible with others when administering. the class that just graduated with me, there were 120 of us. only 15 or so passed the HESI the first time. seriously, can the nursing school say that 105 students, most of us good solid B students all forgot the basics? i doubt that.

dont stress the HESI. if you fail it the first time, there are things that have to be done to remediate to be able to take it the second time. there are several options for the first remediation (take a Kaplan course which is $350, do an online review course which is $99 depending on how long you sign up for, and attend a 3 day review course on campus which was $15). once one of those are done, and you show proof of attendance or passing, you are cleared to take it the second time. if you fail the second time, you have to show that you took all 50 HESI case studies, and passed with a 80. once you have shown all those, you are clear for graduation...

here was my timeline. all during nursing school, i did the HESI case studies (some were required for my classes, the rest i did on my own). about 6 weeks before graduation, i signed up for the online review course, completed it, and got my completion certificate. we had our final on a monday, and i signed up for my HESI on wednesday. i failed with a 835. i immediately went and showed proof of my remediation. i was signed up for retake the following monday. i passed this time with a 899.

as long as all those are accomplished before hand, it will only put you 3 or 4 days behind. not a big deal really. even if you fail both times, as long as all your remediation is done, you still graduate. it is not a do or die thing!!

i remember when i went to my orientation, i heard so many things. for example, they said to quit your job, because if you work, you will fail. i worked full time, and managed to complete all my classes and graduate on time. they say all these things that are intimidating, so that you will freak out and study your butt off. but mostly what it does is send you in there defeated already! just remember, you earned your spot in that nursing program, and you deserve to be there. do what you are supposed to do, and you will be just fine. concentrate on the tasks before you now, and worry about the exit HESI when the time comes!! i assure you that during med surg, critical care, etc, i was worried about those classes' tests and finals, and the exit HESI never crossed my mine!!

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Our school is different. We took the HESI exit in school, but it was not a requirement for passing the course. It was just to show us where we are at the end of the course, and where we need to focus for the NCLEX.

Now, HESI is a part of every semester. It does not count.

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we had the same requirements to graduate- i found (as did other classmates) that the saunder's review books and cds most closely matched the question style/content of the hesi exams.. just do alot of the saunders questions.. using the cd is great bc it gives you feedback right after you answer. youll find the hesi questions very similar. also remember that a side effect of clozaril is agranulocytosis.. hesi likes that question a lot:)

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Specializes in Rehab.

same here 3times to pass the hesi, luckily pass on the 1st try with 965. i think the only way to prepare for the HESI is to do a lot of Q&A question in the cd. i used saunders Q&A cd 3rd ed. green book. during your nursing program you can start doing Q&A with the subject your learning. what i did was when were doing cardiovascular lecture, before the exam i would do all the cardiovascular section in saunders cd. that would help you during the exam and start preparing you for the hesi. you can start doing this on 2nd year of the program.

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Man, I can't imagine having the HESI exit exam during my 1st semester; only possible reason I can see it to humble you. We took 2 of them, one for a midterm on our last semester, then at the end of the program, not an exit exam but just to take it before our review course. I do believe it helped us, or atleast me, for the NCLEX. Several of us took the test serious and did study for it, using it to prepare us for the NCLEX, and we all did good. I believe the types of questions, not exactly the material it test you on, is what helped us. HESI had for us a narrow focus on specific material, none of which do I remember being part of my NCLEX exam. Kaplan was the most help for me, looking back I wish I had read that book at the beginning of nursing so that I would have done better. If I had to take the HESI without knowing any of the material, I would read Kaplan for hints to answering questions. Good luck, but most importantly God bless you in your future career.

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I took the hesi test but my skool is still not lettn me go even though i scored 84.3%, which is 868. Can anyone pls tell me how else i can study for this test. My skool wont let you go take the boards unless you score an 85%.

Thanks in advance for the reply i'll get from you guys

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hhhmmmm...i wonder what school you go to, because that sounds exactly like my school and what the professors said...

i just graduated, and took the exit HESI exam. all the same rules applied for us that they did for you (850, 3 times, etc). first, you are about to enter the hardest 2 years of your life. most of the time, that exit HESI will be the farthest thing from your mind..

for us, we did a mid term HESI that gave us a score, but didnt really count. it was just to let you know how you were doing. i got a really good score...

for your professors to say it was about the basics, is just pure wrong, and i am sure they have never seen the questions. there was nothing basic about the questions. they were specific diseases (odd ones, that were not taught in school, and were never seen in clinicals), and you even had to know if some meds were compatible with others when administering. the class that just graduated with me, there were 120 of us. only 15 or so passed the HESI the first time. seriously, can the nursing school say that 105 students, most of us good solid B students all forgot the basics? i doubt that.

dont stress the HESI. if you fail it the first time, there are things that have to be done to remediate to be able to take it the second time. there are several options for the first remediation (take a Kaplan course which is $350, do an online review course which is $99 depending on how long you sign up for, and attend a 3 day review course on campus which was $15). once one of those are done, and you show proof of attendance or passing, you are cleared to take it the second time. if you fail the second time, you have to show that you took all 50 HESI case studies, and passed with a 80. once you have shown all those, you are clear for graduation...

here was my timeline. all during nursing school, i did the HESI case studies (some were required for my classes, the rest i did on my own). about 6 weeks before graduation, i signed up for the online review course, completed it, and got my completion certificate. we had our final on a monday, and i signed up for my HESI on wednesday. i failed with a 835. i immediately went and showed proof of my remediation. i was signed up for retake the following monday. i passed this time with a 899.

as long as all those are accomplished before hand, it will only put you 3 or 4 days behind. not a big deal really. even if you fail both times, as long as all your remediation is done, you still graduate. it is not a do or die thing!!

i remember when i went to my orientation, i heard so many things. for example, they said to quit your job, because if you work, you will fail. i worked full time, and managed to complete all my classes and graduate on time. they say all these things that are intimidating, so that you will freak out and study your butt off. but mostly what it does is send you in there defeated already! just remember, you earned your spot in that nursing program, and you deserve to be there. do what you are supposed to do, and you will be just fine. concentrate on the tasks before you now, and worry about the exit HESI when the time comes!! i assure you that during med surg, critical care, etc, i was worried about those classes' tests and finals, and the exit HESI never crossed my mine!!

Your school is a lot different than mine. I attend an AD program. There are four levels. Each level there is a HESI test. 1st level you have to score 750, 2nd level an 800, 3rd level an 850, and the final HESI (or exit HESI) you must score an 900 to graduate. You have one chance to retake on the first three levels and three chances to pass the final HESI. If you do not pass these levels you DO NOT progress to the next level! Period. We have quite a few 4th level nurses that had to retake 4th level because of HESI even though they passed the class. This seems strange to me.

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