Entrance Exam

Entrance testing for the Practical Nursing Program will be held twice a year - in April and October.  Once your application is complete and received by the deadline, you will receive a letter of testing date in mid March or September.  Currently we use the HESI Admission Assessment Exam which is a supervised computerized exam.

The exam consists of the following components:

English Language

• Reading Comprehension - Provides reading scenarios in order to measure reading comprehension, identifying the main idea, find meaning of words in contest, passage comprehension, making logical inferences, etc.

• Grammar - Contains basic grammar, including parts of speech, important terms and their uses in grammar, commonly occurring grammatical errors, etc.

Math

• Basic Math Skills - Focuses on math skills needed for health care fields, including basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, decimals, ratio and proportion, household measures, general math facts, etc.

Personality Profile - Uses concepts related to introversion and extroversion to classify the student's personality style.

Learning Style - Assesses the preferred learning style of the prospective applicant and offers test-taking and study tips suited to that learning style.

The Practical Nursing Program applicant will not be tested on Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry or Physics.

Computer Skills Needed:  Use of the mouse and basic keyboard strokes are needed to take the exam.

Applicants must pass all components of the examination at 75% or higher to determine potential for success in nursing school.

Interested persons may purchase a study guide to prepare for the exam by ordering it from the Elsevier website, from any book store (see links below) or by checking with your local library using the ISBN #: 978-1-4160-5635-5.  Information about this study guide is mailed to the applicant with the acknowledgement of application letter.

The original test fee is paid with the application fee.  Therefore, for those retaking the exam, there is a $25 re-testing fee along with a $10 fee for the Criminal Background check application.

Results of the pre-entrance test will be mailed to you after the last testing date.

A suggestion to help increase your reading level is to begin reading medical/nursing  magazines to become familiar with reading scientific terms. 

Check with your local Career Link about Health Care Prep classes.