Usefulness of a midcurricular examination for identifying at-risk nursing students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the Health Education Systems, Inc, midcurricular examination in identifying at-risk students earlier in their nursing career. This study used quantitative measures to examine the relationship between the Health Education Systems, Inc, midcurricular examination and the students' success in the nursing program and their performance on the HESI exit examination and the NCLEX-RN. Statistically significant correlations were found between the score attained on the Health Education Systems, Inc, midcurricular examination and the students' admission grade point average and the grade point average at the time of the Health Education Systems, Inc, midcurricular examination, the students' score on the HESI exit examination, and their performance in the capstone nursing courses. An analysis of the data supported the belief that the Health Education Systems, Inc, midcurricular examination was a useful predictive tool that can identify students at risk for nonsuccess prior to the senior year of nursing so thatmeasures to ensure success can be implemented.