Standardized Testing Policy (BSN Pre-licensure)

Purpose

To outline standardized testing requirements in the baccalaureate nursing program curriculum for individuals enrolled in the pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program.

Requirements

Health Education Systems Incorporated (HESI) examinations are nationally standardized examinations that are content-specific and based on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Testing Blueprint. HESI’s online exams test students on their skills in clinical application and critical thinking which are cornerstones of BSN student preparation. HESI provides institutional and student diagnostic reports that include an item-by-item topic comparison between Morehead State University’s BSN group’s percentage answered correctly and the national group norm answered correctly. Additionally, HESI provides an individualized detailed remediation plan for the students regarding their specific areas of weakness.

HESI exams are used throughout the curriculum within MSU’s BNP, from admission through the capstone course. The rationale for utilizing the HESI series of examinations is to prepare the student for eventual NCLEX-RN ("Boards") success. The individual exams offered throughout the curriculum are provided as stepping stones which culminate in taking the HESI Exit Exam, which is a course requirement in the NURB 499C Advanced Nursing Practicum capstone course. Therefore, preparation, completion, and remediation as indicated on all of the HESI exams, are essential elements throughout the curriculum, and are performed in order to prepare the student for success.

Specifically, HESI exams are utilized in the following courses: NURB 262 Foundational Skills for Professional Nursing, NURB 264 Family Health Nursing, NURB 266 Community Based Nursing Care, NURB 318 Pharmacology and the Nursing Process, NURB 320 Care of Older Adults, NURB 322 Mental Health Nursing, NURB 324 Acute Alterations in Adult Health I, NURB 420 Acute Alterations in Adult Health II, NURB 422 Chronic Alterations in Health, NURB 461 Nursing Leadership, NURB 498 Nursing Senior Seminar, and NURB 499C Advanced Nursing Practicum.

Use of Standardized Testing Across the Baccalaureate Nursing Program Curriculum

*NURB 499C - The HESI Exit will be administered approximately during week 13 of the semester. If necessary, a second exam may be administered at student cost prior to exit from the course. The second exam will be scheduled approximately two weeks following the first attempt or in week 15 of the semester. If the student is not successful on the second attempt, a third exam will be scheduled during week 16, so as not to be in conflict with finals week. If the student is not successful on the third attempt, an "E" is assigned to the course, regardless of other earned scores in the course. The conversion percentage score attained on the first attempt of the exit exam will be utilized as a course exam grade as well.

Additional Information Concerning Standardized Testing 

In regards to remediation, following the completion of any HESI standardized examination, students who have not successfully met the course guidelines for the exam are required to be accountable for their remediation by accessing their individual HESI remediation plan via the Evolve website within two weeks of the availability of the exam score. Within two weeks of the beginning of the following semester, students are required to contact and schedule a remediation meeting with the course leader/designee of the course in which the HESI was housed. A proposed remediation plan of action based upon the student's individual identified deficiencies of the specific HESI exam should be completed prior to attendance at the remediation meeting. Failure to schedule a meeting or complete a plan of remediation may negatively impact the student's success in courses throughout the BSN curriculum, success on the HESI course requirement housed within NURB 499C in the final semester of the BSN Program, as well as success on the NCLEX-RN (licensure exam).  

In regards to scoring of the HESI examination, the scores range from 0 to over 1000, and can be as high as 1500, depending on the difficulty of the exam. An acceptable level of performance is 850; however, the recommended level of performance is 900 and above for all scores provided. Each school is responsible for establishing their specific standards related to outcome measures of acceptable scores. Many schools choose a certain overall score as a benchmark for progression, and such benchmarks are set at the discretion of the school's faculty and administrators. However, when preparing for the NCLEX, it is recommended that students seriously remediate any subject area category in which they obtained a score of less than 850. All test items are weighted according to their difficulty level. Each individual student score reflects application of the HESI Predictability Model (HPM) to the overall score and each subject area score. Research studies have found the HPM to be highly accurate in predicting NCLEX success. The conversion score is a weighted percentage score that considers the average difficulty of the exam and the average difficulty of the test items answered. The HESI score is a better predictor of NCLEX success than the conversion score because it reflects application of the HPM in its calculation, whereas the conversion score does not.