A third study on predicting NCLEX success with the HESI exit exam

This was the third annual validity study designed to assess the accuracy of the HESI Exit Exam (E) in predicting NCLEX success for graduating registered and practical nursing students. As in year I (N = 2,725) and year II (N = 3,752), in year III (N = 6,277), the E was highly predictive of NCLEX success for associate degree nursing, bachelor of science nursing, diploma, and practical nursing students. Unlike previous years, in year III, monitoring was not a significant factor in the predictive accuracy of the E. NCLEX success of low-scoring E students, first examined in year II, was also examined in year III. As in year II, low-scoring E students were significantly more (P = .001) likely to fail the licensure examination than high-scoring E students. In year III, unlike year II, there was no significant difference in the pass rate of low-scoring E students who participated in a remediation program and those who did not. The authors recommended that a more definitive definition of remediation be used in future studies and that such studies focus on E implementation strategies and their relationship to NCLEX success.