Wednesday, January 18, 2012

HESI Practice

The nurse in a primary care clinic is caring for a 68-year-old man.  History reveals that the client has smoked 1 pack of cigarettes per day for 45 years and drinks 2 beers per day.  He is complaining of a nonproductive cough, chest discomfort, and dyspnea.  The nurse hears isolated wheezing in the right middle lobe.  It would be MOST important for the nurse to complete which of the following orders?

1)      Pulmonary function tests

2)      Echocardiogram

3)      Chest X-ray

4)      Sputum culture



YUP, I’m studying for the HESI (Health Education Systems, Inc. The HESI exam tests comprehensive knowledge of nursing) coming up this semester. 

What’s funny is I looked for books to help study for the HESI and they kept coming back to NCLEX books, so yesterday when I went to pick up my rental books from my school library I picked up an NCLEX rental.  I’ve been told that if we don’t score at least a 950 or so, on the HESI, we’ll have to retake it and pay ($40).  Then if we don’t pass it for the second time we have to make a written plan/goal on how we’re going to try to study and pass the NCLEX and submit that to the powers that be. 

I AM THE WORLDS WORST TEST TAKER.  I can spend HOURS studying and sacrificing my time only to come out with a score between 75-80% on most exams.  I am jealous of the students who spend fewer hours and get higher test scores, so to say the least I’m scared poopless WORRIED!

Why is the long road to becoming a nurse so scary?

5 comments:

  1. Practice is the key. It's a looooooong time ago now but when I was studying for our licensing - I found that the more practice questions I did, the more confident I got and the better I got. I used one of those books that have all the questions in them. It was worth the cost.

    Don't worry...it gets better!

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  2. HESI is all about application of concepts , so doing the NCLEX analysis and application questions and reading rationals until your eyes bug out of your head will help you will HESI. HESI makes an NCLEX RN content review study guide... BEST investment you will ever make!

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  3. Thanks CC - I certainly will do my best at practicing. After the first week of school things have been so hectic that I'm not sure where to fit in studying yet but will keep plugging away. I have a few NCLEX books and they're helpful.

    Christine - I think I'm going to really read over the first few chapters of the HESI/NCLEX study books to understand how the testing works. Then I'm going to pray!

    Rnraquel - Painful isn't it?

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  4. So what was the answer ?

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