Recent Grads Who Had To Pass HESI To Graduate

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Nov 5, 2005

HESI is quickly becoming the standard exit exam. My school had a pass expectation of 85 or above in 2002.

Any practice and review you can do will help. Even if its just looking over notes and reinforcing things you already have had. If you have practice programs/test books for NCLEX those dont hurt a bit either.

I found HESI to be as or more nerve wracking than NCLEX but maybe due to the weight the school put on our need to pass it to be able to graduate. Study, give yourself time to go over things you arent the best at and reinforce the things you are and youll do ok.

I ended up getting a 99.9 so its entirely doable. Think of it as a picture of your likelyhood of passing NCLEX. Do what you can to get the best score you can, but if you dont, you still have other chances. I was 42 when i took it so its very doable.

acebsn05 · Nov 5, 2005

We also had to get 85% to pass. I studied the entire Hesi book and did Saunders and Mosby questions, thousands of them. For the Hesi book, I specifically focused on the "Hesi Hint" boxes.

In comparison to Mosby's practice questions, I think that it's about the same level. The distribition of application questions, though, seems larger in Hesi. I wish you good luck!

Hoozdo, ADN · Nov 20, 2005

Our graduating class will take a HESI 'Outcome' test next week that supposedly tests everything since semester I. Those of you who had to take this test please give me a heads up on how it compares, in difficulty, to such practice tools such as Saunders. What else can you tell me about how you perceived the exam? We have to score 900 to pass and graduate.
:uhoh21:

I took the HESI RN last week. Luckily, at my school they use it as a learning tool and it is not a required to get a good score to graduate. We were encouraged NOT to study for it. I got a 1022 without studying and I am a B student - so don't overly worry about it. A category I did bad in was developmental milestones for peds so review that

I can tell you from taking the HESI PN and NCLEX PN last year that if you study from the Saunders review and CD that you will do fine. The Saunders questions seem much tougher to me to HESI or NCLEX.

Soon-to-be-NurseJess · Nov 30, 2005

I had to take and pass HESI after my fundamentals semester, after OB and Peds semester and I will be taking it next week after my last semester of Med/Surg. It is a butt-kicker in my opinion. I'm an A student, but I find it to be difficult. I have passed on the first try each time, but I have been very close to the 850 passing standard. This semester I have to get a 900 to pass so I'm slightly worried, but confident in my knowledge.

All of the RNs I've talked to that also had to take HESI before they graduated said that it was harder than NCLEX itself. That gives me some hope.

Hope this was helpful :nurse:

grentea · Dec 2, 2005

At my school we had to get an 85% on the HESI to graduate too. I worried way too much about it, and ended up getting something in the 99% range. I thought the HESI was more knowledge-based than the NCLEX. The NCLEX seemed to focus more on application type questions (which is also knowledge- based....but you know what I mean). Saunders was one of my favorite books. When I did practice questions, I did a lot from that Saunders Q+A book and I thought it helped me out. I also had the HESI review book which was put out by HESI. Keep doing those practice questions and going over your basics (especially about how to prioritize). Get a good night's sleep before your test, eat a good breakfast in the morning, and don't stress out. When you're taking the test don't be afraid if you see questions you haven't seen before in your practice, just think them through the same way you always do and you'll be ok. And one more word of advice, if you're really stumped on a question re-read it and make sure you understand what it is asking. A few times I found myself in that situation when taking the HESI and when I went back and re-read the question, I realized I had ignored key words such as "not", which can really change everything. Well good luck to you and don't stress!:)