Nursing school programs have competitive admission processes in most areas of the United States. Most schools that train Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses require prospective students to take an entrance exam when applying to the program. This ensures that applicants have a solid, basic understanding of the prerequisite subject areas. Some nursing schools require students to achieve a certain score on the nursing exam to be considered for acceptance, while others weigh applicant scores on the admission test along with other factors (such as GPA) to determine who gets admitted.
Three of the most popular pre-entrance exams that nursing schools require prospective students to take are the NET (Nursing Entrance Test), the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills), and the HESI (Health Education Systems, Inc.) Admission Assessment. Pre-nursing students should check with the schools they are applying to and find out which tests they will be required to take, as well as how their scores affect the admission process. While nursing entrance exams all generally test on a specific selection of key subject areas, the different versions do vary somewhat in format and content.
By knowing which specific admission exam they will be taking, pre-nursing school students will be able to adequately prepare themselves. There are study guides and tips available for all of these admission tests, often both online and in print. Many college bookstores stock preparation guides for the entrance exam that their nursing school uses. Often, a faculty member of the nursing department will be able to give information regarding the format of the admission test and which subject areas are covered. Alternatively, once the name of the required test is known, the student can easily find information and practice questions for the entrance exam they will have to take by doing a quick internet search.
NET (Nursing Entrance Test)
The NET includes six parts: reading comprehension, math, test-taking skills, learning style, stress level, and social interaction. Some nursing schools use an additional exam section which covers grammar and punctuation. The entire test must be taken, but only the reading, English, and math sections are used to determine admission. The other sections are supposed to give the student and perhaps instructors insight into potential strengths and problems the student might have in an academically demanding nursing program.
HESI Admission Assessment (Health Education Systems, Inc.)
The HESI Admission Assessment tests on the following subject areas: math, reading, vocabulary, grammar, biology, chemistry, and anatomy and physiology. This is perhaps the most comprehensive of these three nursing school entrance exams, but it also seems to be the least popular. HESI publishes a study guide that includes details about what each subject area covers, practice questions, suggested vocabulary to know, and more, which costs approximately $35.
TEAS Test (Test of Essential Academic Skills)
The TEAS entrance exam is broken into four subject areas: English, reading, math, and science. The English and reading sections of the exam cover basic language skills including spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and reading comprehension. The math section tests knowledge of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, metric conversions, and algebraic equations. Finally, the science portion of the TEAS Test covers general science, physical principles, biology, chemistry, and anatomy and physiology.
As pre-nursing school students will have noticed, the content of these tests-especially the last two-is largely based on subjects that are covered in nursing prerequisite courses. Students who did well in those classes and remember much of the information covered will only need minimal study and practice time to prepare for their nursing school entrance exam. Nursing students may find About.com’s Entrance Exams for Nursing School or books such as Barron’s How to Prepare for the Nursing School Entrance Exams helpful in their exam preparations.
