What is your school's HESI policy?

[KBoo]

I am a senior nursing student at Wright State University in Ohio. I am set to graduate in November. Throughout my education at Wright State, the policy on the HESI has been that you have to take it the quarter before you graduate, but you don't have to have any sort of minimum pass rate. It was more of a tool to see where we needed to study for the NCLEX.

Well, this week Wright State College of Nursing announced that starting with MY class, you have to pass the HESI in order to graduate. From past statistics, there has been a 20-25% first time pass rate at WSU for the HESI. It is now part of one of our 400lvl classes, and is worth 10% of our grade. We have two attemps at the test and then we have to take the class over again, which is not offered for 6 months, and if we don't pass it the 3rd time, thats it. No pass, No degree.

My whole class is distraught over this announcement. We have had no prior warning, and in 3 months we will be taking a test that could possibly ruin our careers. We do not take an NCLEX review class until AFTER we take the first shot at the HESI. Starting with the new nursing classes below us they will be implementing a HESI/NCLEX review portion in their core nursing classes. But my class has to just have a go at it and see how it works. We feel like the lab rats, I just don't understand how my school is willing to do this to us as we are soo soo close to graduating.

I am wondering what other nursing schools policy on the HESI is? And are we over-reacting or does in one else think that this is crap??

[hunydew2262]

I'm at UC as well, in the BSN program at the Clermont cohort. We practice NCLEX questions all the time, most of our exams are NCLEX-type questions from past test banks. If your text book has a CD-ROM or web page, you might want to check those for questions as well.

Does anyone know if there are HESI practice books or does everyone use NCLEX text?

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

yes, there are hesi study books available. the one recommended by uc last year is:

[color=#2b3244]

[color=#34587f]

bibliographic & ordering information

[color=#2b3244][color=#2b3244]

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/709621/description#description

paperback, publication date: sep-2005

isbn-13: 978-1-4160-4078-1

isbn-10: 1-4160-4078-1

imprint: elsevier

amazon has this book listed at:

http://www.amazon.com/nclex-rn%c2%ae-review-hesi-studyware-cd-rom/dp/1416040781/ref=sr_1_3?ie=utf8&s=books&qid=1229605300&sr=1-3

for those thinking about this book, amazon's reviews have some "interesting" info. the cdrom enclosed with the book just works under windows, so i guess you mac users are left out. more disturbing to me is that the practice hesi exams on the cdrom can only be used 5 times.

i think the "snarky" (love that word!) description for this last property is "crippleware", meant to describe software that's deliberately crippled by the manufacturer in an ever increasing greedy search for the holy $$$.

i didn't bother buying the hesi review book, and used the kaplan & saunders nclex-rn review books to pass hesi on the first try instead. the kaplan/saunders cdrom software is fully functional, not greed-driven crippleware.

please work to study for the hesi, in your "copious free time." in my cohort of uc accelerated bsn students (overachievers from the get-go), the average score was in the 800's. since 900 is needed to pass, a bunch of folks had to retake the test.

not that this or the crippleware issue peeves me in the slightest, mind you:no:. nossirree! not me. calm, relaxed, serene.

[hunydew2262]

I was told by a 2008 class member that only 10% of the students are expected to pass the HESI on the first try. That freaked me out a little, since I know many of the students are very intelligent.

Thanks for the information. I'll look for that study guide and get busy. (He,he,he... free time!)

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I was told by a 2008 class member that only 10% of the students are expected to pass the HESI on the first try. That freaked me out a little, since I know many of the students are very intelligent.

Thanks for the information. I'll look for that study guide and get busy. (He,he,he... free time!)

Pass rates seem to vary from year to year. In 2007, I was told that the non-accelerated students had a 18% pass rate, and that year's accelerated cohort had a 70-75% pass rate. This seems to "jive" with the number of accel students I saw on campus that summer retaking HESI.

In 2008, I don't know the passing percentages for accelerated students. I suspect that around 60-70% FAILED the first time. I do know that at my table in the 3rd floor break area following the HESI test, only 3 out of the 8 people sitting at the table had passed HESI. One poor lady (in tears) had failed it by 1 freaking point (899, rather than 900). Some of my cohort had to take it three times before they passed.

You're right about even "very intelligent" students crashing on the exam. Some of the folks inducted with me into Sigma Theta Tau failed their HESI exam.

I'm not sure how it will be for your class, but we (& the previous cohort of accel students) had to take HESI near the end of finals week. At that point, your brain is totally fried and you just don't care. During that final end-of-quarter time crunch, you have to decide whether studying for your class finals are more important than studying for HESI. I know that for me, I focused almost entirely on my class finals, figuring that I could always retake HESI if I crashed. Like I said, I just didn't care. My apathy meter was pegged.

Yup, spare time. Loads of spare time from when your eyes close at night till they open up to the sound of your alarm clock. Sleep is highly over-rated! (of course, I can say that now that I'm through the program)

I know that during our final quarter of didactic classes, between clinicals at day & at night, BS projects, papers, tests, and quizzes, most of us didn't know whether we were going or coming. One student made up & shared a master schedule spreadsheet, showing what homework/assignments/tests/clinicals were happening on what days. If it wasn't for that, I and a bunch of others would have been even more messed up. As it was, I found myself losing track of what day it was. One morning, I was frantically cramming in the study area for a test I just KNEW was in an hour or so (Adult Health/Critical Care Seminar, I think). I then found out that the test was the next day. RELIEF!

[hunydew2262]

Thanks so much for the advice. I've hears that the HESI is more difficult than the NCLEX. Be sure to let us know if that is true! Good luck to you.

[hellooonurse28]

I graduated from MUO (now univ of toledo health science campus) and we had to pass the HESI with an 850 or 875 or something. You had two tries, then had to retake a class 6 mos later and had one more opportunity if you failed. Luckily, I passed the first time. It made the NCLEX look like a cake walk! We were frustrated at the time, because our school did the same kind of thing yours is. All I can tell you is study a TON, and if you pass the HESI you WILL pass the NCLEX. The NCLEX is really not that bad at all. GOOD LUCK, I know what you are going through!

[ohwerehalfwaythere]

must pass to graduate

[amp83]

At my school, you had to take the HESI to get into the program. Its not hard at all. It is very easy and if you have to take it before you graduate, there should be no reason you can't pass it. I have been out of school for 3 years and took the HESI and passed the first try. Do you have the HESI study guide?

[schroedie]

actually i wouldnt make the assumption that the hesi is "very easy" and "if you have to take it before you graduate there should be no reason you can't pass it." the hesi can be tailored by the company to the exact educational requirements your school specifies. my particular school had a test designed for the end of each semester (in my accelerated program) or at the end of every year for the regular program. each time the test was designed, they added in additional information that should have been learned previously (so its just a&p and med surg for first years, all of that plus peds second year etc until it is essentially all of the info you could be tested on by the nclex when you graduate).

the hesi is not easy. i suspect the test you took measured very basic non nursing knowledge (bio, a&p, cpr etc) if you had to take it to be admitted. when you take the full blown story, i think you may reconsider calling it easy and assuming that there is no reason for someone to fail it. of the 4 times i took it, i did fail it once.

i will say something though, making it through the grad hesi made me as ready as anything for nclex.