| Sumario: | Nursing programs increasingly use exit exams to increase graduating nursing students' readiness for the nurse licensing examination. These exams prepare students for computer adaptive testing and identify areas where remediation is needed. This study examines an Associate Degree in Nursing program that has shown consistently low exit exam scores causing delays in student graduation, eligibility to sit for the licensing exam, and entry into the workforce. The study was crafted to investigate student perspectives of the barriers to student success on the Health Education Systems Incorporated (HESI) exit exam. It employed a quantitative one-shot survey design to evaluate factors related to performance on the HESI exit exam, including lack of study time, lack of knowledge despite passing nursing courses, lack of motivation to prepare for the exam, overwhelming stress, poor test-taking skills, and lack of confidence. Using multiple linear regression analysis, the results showed that students' self-perceptions of poor test-taking skills had a significant negative effect on HESI exit exam scores. These findings were used to design a project focused on teaching test-taking skills throughout the nursing program. The study and project collectively promote positive social change by providing a means to improve nursing program graduation rates, a tool of great importance in addressing the current shortage of nurses in the United States' workforce.
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