So I’ve already published a few articles and I realized that I haven’t explained some important basic information about my nursing program so that if anyone is out there reading my blog posts they can understand what I mean when I throw around numbers and terminology.

 

 

 

 

 

Gone are the days where a 90 was still an A. Grading scales like this are why people say be prepared not to get A’s in nursing school. So how are grades calculated?

Thankfully, my school does round-up but only by 0.50. For example if I received a 76.6 as a final grade, the grade would be rounded up to a 77 which is considered passing. However, if the final grade was a 76.4 that would be a failing grade. Our grades are also calculated on a points system meaning if I get 95 on an exam which is an A, I wouldn’t get full credit as in getting a 100 on the exam. I would get a 95 exactly and that is the number that would be factored into my final grade.

Grading Scale for Courses:

93-100% A     [Passing]

85-92% B     [Passing]

77-84% C     [Passing]

69-76% D     [Failing]

Below 69% F     [Failing]

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The dreaded HESI. What is the HESI?

The HESI (Health Education Systems, Inc.) is a computerized exam designed to assess prospective students entering the health science fields. In my blog posts I’ll be discussing the HESI in relation to nursing. HESI exams are not specific to any one nursing program. What that means is that the HESI may or may not cover topics that my program didn’t cover or include in the curriculum. Scary right? The HESI is used to prepare students for the NCLEX. For my program, I must take and pass 7 HESI exams in the following courses:

Fundamentals of Nursing

Pharmacology

Pediatric Nursing

Obstetrical Nursing

Psychiatric Nursing

Medical-Surgical Nursing

Exit Exam

I take each of the HESI specialty exams and the conclusion of the course. For my program, the HESI is worth a whopping 15% of the course grade for every course so it is something I have to take very seriously. Not scoring on the HESI  can severely affect my grade and cause me to fail a course. At the conclusion of this program, every student is required to take a HESI Exit Exam. In a nutshell it’s a mini NCLEX that reviews all the material taught in nursing school and is a good indicator of how prepared a student is for the NCLEX. In my program you have to pass the exit HESI to graduate and to have the school submit your name to be able to sit for the NCLEX.

You can score anywhere from 0 to 1500 on the HESI. To pass the HESI within my program you need a 750 or greater. If I score 850 or above that basically means I know the subject well and I’ll get the full 15% factored into my grade. If I score between 849 and 800 that means I’ve grasped most of the necessary topics so I would only get 11% out of the 15% factored into my grade. If I score between 750 and 799 that means I’ve grasped the minimum necessary topics so I would only get 7.5% out of the 15% factored into my grade.

Grading Scale for the HESI:

850 or above = 15% 

800 to 849 = 11%   

750-799 = 7.5% 

749 or below = 0% 

I hope I was able to clarify any confusion. If you have any comments or you’d like to hear more about my experience with the HESI (I’ve taken 3 HESI exams thus far) just comment below and I’ll make a post about it.