Abstract
Purpose: Nurse Educators search for strategies to identify at-risk students early in the educational process with the intention of identifying knowledge gaps and providing remediation to improve student success on the NCLEX-RN examination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Elsevier/HESI Specialty Exams used throughout the curriculum has on the HESI Exit Exam and NCLEX-RN student performance.
Methods: A random matched (2:1) stratified sample of 63 schools using predictive exit exams alone (n=20; 1,458 students) or schools using both specialty and exit exams (n=43; 2,332 students) were analyzed. Nursing students were enrolled in 26 BSN, 31 ADN, and 6 Diploma programs across the United States.
Results: Students testing with one or more HESI Specialty Exam throughout their curriculum had significantly higher scores on their HESI Exit Exams, M= 865.7 (CI: 861.3 - 870.1) versus HESI Exit Exam only M=837.3 (CI: 831.0 -- 843.7), t(2767)=7.19, p = <.0001. Pediatric (p=.0005), and Psych-Mental Health (p=.002) Specialty Exams were the best predictors of NCLEX-RN success. The students who scored 900 and above on their HESI Exit Exams and parallel retests passed NCLEX-RN 98.90% (version 1), 95.66% (version 2), and 94.59% (version 3) of the time.
Conclusion: Benchmark HESI Specialty Exam scores are significantly predictive of end of program Exit Exam success and adds to evidence based for educational policy. In this national sample, early identification of content specific knowledge gaps through standardized nursing specialty exams enabled implementation of remediation strategies that improved student's success on school and national high stakes testing.
Sigma Membership
Unknown
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
HESI Exit Exam, NCLEX-RNA, HESI Specialty Exam
Recommended Citation
Zweighaft, Elizabeth and Willson, Pamela, "National standardize specialty exams improve predictive exit exam scores and NCLEX-RN® success" (2012). Convention. 71.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2011/presentations_2011/71
Conference Name
41st Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Grapevine, Texas, USA
Conference Year
2011
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
National standardize specialty exams improve predictive exit exam scores and NCLEX-RN® success
Grapevine, Texas, USA
Purpose: Nurse Educators search for strategies to identify at-risk students early in the educational process with the intention of identifying knowledge gaps and providing remediation to improve student success on the NCLEX-RN examination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Elsevier/HESI Specialty Exams used throughout the curriculum has on the HESI Exit Exam and NCLEX-RN student performance.
Methods: A random matched (2:1) stratified sample of 63 schools using predictive exit exams alone (n=20; 1,458 students) or schools using both specialty and exit exams (n=43; 2,332 students) were analyzed. Nursing students were enrolled in 26 BSN, 31 ADN, and 6 Diploma programs across the United States.
Results: Students testing with one or more HESI Specialty Exam throughout their curriculum had significantly higher scores on their HESI Exit Exams, M= 865.7 (CI: 861.3 - 870.1) versus HESI Exit Exam only M=837.3 (CI: 831.0 -- 843.7), t(2767)=7.19, p = <.0001. Pediatric (p=.0005), and Psych-Mental Health (p=.002) Specialty Exams were the best predictors of NCLEX-RN success. The students who scored 900 and above on their HESI Exit Exams and parallel retests passed NCLEX-RN 98.90% (version 1), 95.66% (version 2), and 94.59% (version 3) of the time.
Conclusion: Benchmark HESI Specialty Exam scores are significantly predictive of end of program Exit Exam success and adds to evidence based for educational policy. In this national sample, early identification of content specific knowledge gaps through standardized nursing specialty exams enabled implementation of remediation strategies that improved student's success on school and national high stakes testing.
Description
41st Biennial Convention - 29 October-2 November 2011. Theme: People and Knowledge: Connecting for Global Health. Held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.