Repeat testing with the HESI exit exam-sixth validity study

Since 1996, the accuracy of the HESI Exit Exam, or E(2) in predicting NCLEX success has been scientifically investigated. Five previously conducted studies determined that the E(2) was between 96.36% and 98.30% accurate in predicting NCLEX-RN success (N = 27037). However, all five of these studies examined the accuracy of the E(2) in predicting NCLEX success based on the first administration of the E(2).This study (N = 10147), which examined the predictive accuracy of parallel versions of the E(2), found that there was no significant difference in predictive accuracy between the first (96.44%) and second (92.94%) versions of the E(2), but the third (82.50%) version was significantly less accurate in predicting NCLEX-RN success than were the first two Eversions. The authors conjectured that students taking the E(2) for the third time were at greater risk for NCLEX-RN failure than were those who successfully met the school's designated benchmark score the first or second time they took the E(2).