DECATUR - The road to becoming a nurse is rigorous.

Two years of difficult course work - four years, if the student wants a bachelor's degree - and then the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, commonly called NCLEX.

But in most two-year programs, before you can sit for the licensure exam, you have to pass the Health Education Systems Inc., or HESI, and for some students, that prospect is even more daunting, because if you fail, you most likely won't get the degree you worked so hard to earn.

"Since we implemented the HESI (a year ago), we have had 20 of 21 students come through the HESI and sit for the licensing exam and succeed with a 100 percent pass rate," said Lisa Gregory, executive assistant to Richland Community College President Gayle Saunders. "So we feel the HESI is an adequate diagnostic tool in preparing for the NCLEX."

The HESI is used as an exit exam in nursing programs nationwide and locally at Richland, Lake Land College and Lincoln Land College.

The test is designed to predict a student's chances for successfully passing the licensure exam. Practice tests and study guides are available online and at major retailers such as Amazon.com.

Students at Richland who fail the HESI the first time can enroll in a remediation program designed to find their weaknesses and correct them, she said, and so far the students who have taken that remedial course have all passed on their next try.

"I think the important thing to remember is that nursing education and practice is an integral part of our health care delivery system, and we know at Richland that it calls for a broad base of knowledge and special skills," Gregory said. "We want to make sure the students have the ability to acquire these skills and that we are putting into the field safe and successful practitioners. I think that's the bottom line for our testing requirement."

Lincoln Land Community College has been using the HESI for several years, said associate dean of nursing Cynthia Maskey, and has found it to be a very good predictor of whether a student will pass the licensing exam. Students can take the test a total of three times in their last semester. Failing the first time can often be due to anxiety, Maskey said.

"We don't let them leave without sitting down with a faculty person," Maskey said. "They need to sit down and talk to somebody. It feels like a monster at that point, and they really need to talk to somebody."

Professors can usually see beforehand if a student is really having trouble grasping the material and address the problems prior to the test, she said. Most often, a student just needs to step back and try again, and very few fail the second time.

Study materials and tutors are available, and if all else fails, students can repeat their last semester of study. The Lincoln Land staff is working on a plan to provide independent study for those students.

Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells@herald-review.com or 421-7982.