OCN Review advice please!

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I will be taking the OCN exam for the first time in May 2009. Any advice on preparing for this exam?! Books to buy? or review courses?

Has anyone taken the ONS Online OCN Review Course?? If so, was it helpful? It's based off of Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (4th ed.).

Yes, I had all 4's except for 1 in sexual and 2 twos in something else. Enough to not give my 55 I needed to pass. Boohoo

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Hello all

I have a question and I hope one of you guy can help me out!

I plan to take the OCN test in 11/2009 but need to apply by July 8. I'm applying for the first time and trying to get everything together such as 10 contact hours of oncology nursing CE and letter of attendance (1 year nursing experience + 1000 hours of oncology). My question is, do I need to ask my nurse manager to type up a letter of attendance to submit to OCN or they'll call to confirm my attendance? I find it really confusing and hope you can help me out!

Thank you in advance!!!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg. Oncology. GYN..

I just completed that ONS review. Plan on taking the exam in Nov.

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Specializes in GI, OR, Oncology.

I appreciate all the good information here. I'll be taking the OCN exam in Nov. and am pretty nervous!

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100% agree with the fact that the ONS review was a total waste of time and money.......Im taking the exam in a week so I will let you guys know my perspective. I use the ONS book and study guide, and also a fantastic book another friend of mine used to prepare herself for the exam. It is very easy to read and overall a very good source of informations: IBSN 978-0-323-04185-0 Oncology Nursing. Mosby. Phenomenal book I would recommand to all nurses who work Hem-Onc, in particular for those new to the specialty.

Keep your fingers crossed!

K

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Ambulatory Care, Oncology.

You guys have been so helpful and provided insightful information to pass the OCN exam. I have worked as an oncology nurse for the last 3 years and absolutely love it! Unfortunately, I am quite limited in my knowledge because I work in a male prison and don't deal with the gyncological cancers, breast cancer affecting women, or bone marrow transplants so these are my weak areas. I only know of one person that has successfully passed the exam and she said she studied hard so I just decided to follow suit.

I started the process of preparing for the exam in February 2010 by taking a 2-day OCN review course. This was so overwhelming and the information just flew over my head....too much information to cram in 2 days. I have just completed the online OCN Review with ONS and although there have been various negative views about the 3 month course I have learned a great deal from it and thought that the test at the end was quite helpful....eventhough I had to take it 3 times to pass. I went through the entire Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing textbook. Since I just completed my graduate studies online, the self-paced adult learning style was a great fit.

Now after reading the many blogs and through several recommendations, I have started using the Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing. It is quite helpful. I have learned from my incorrect answers and the rationales given. But after months of studying...why am I still so stressed out. The NCLEX was a nightmare for me. Now 10 years later, I feel the anxiety all over again. I know the material, I'm just scared of the test taking part. I am scheduled to take the exam at the end of August 2010 but I'm so extremely nervous. I just pray that I will do well and that all the money that I put into the preparation for this exam will pay off. Thanks again for the great advice...I'll keep you posted. :nurse:

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I am wondering how the people who knew they received a 54, or a 50 to not make the passing score of 55. I was not given a number of my failure. It seems like it would need to be an equation to figure a number score from a scaled score. PLMK how to do this so I can see if I only failed a little or alot. :eek:

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I just took the test today and passed. I used the Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing and just went section by section doing questions. I didn't go through the whole Core Curriculum manual; it was too much for me. The study guide gave me a feel for how the questions would go. I also spent the $45 and bought the set of review questions from ONS. Unlike most people, I procrastinated and didn't start studying until about 3 weeks before the test (I'd advise against this).

Anyway, I thought the Study Guide was very helpful. I got through the test in about 1h 45min.

Good luck to those planning to test in the future.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Ambulatory Care, Oncology.

I passed.... the first time! I took the exam August 30th and I was so extremely nervous. I wanted to postpone the exam but I was also ready to get it over with. Like OCNRN63, I also purchased the online review tests. What really helped was going through the entire Core Curriculum manual while taking the online review course by the ONS University, and going through the study guide. I really invested time and money into passing this exam and it payed off! Thanks for the great advice.

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Specializes in OP Hem/Onc Chemo infusion.

delete

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Specializes in OP Hem/Onc Chemo infusion.

sorry - can't figure out how to delete a post......

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Specializes in OP Hem/Onc Chemo infusion.
I just took the test today and passed. I used the Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing and just went section by section doing questions. I didn't go through the whole Core Curriculum manual; it was too much for me. The study guide gave me a feel for how the questions would go. I also spent the $45 and bought the set of review questions from ONS. Unlike most people, I procrastinated and didn't start studying until about 3 weeks before the test (I'd advise against this).

Anyway, I thought the Study Guide was very helpful. I got through the test in about 1h 45min.

Good luck to those planning to test in the future.

OCNRN63,

How long did it take you to find out if you passed the test? I also see some people know their score and/or where their deficiencies were. Do you know anything about this?

Waiting to find out if you passed NCLEX was nerve racking - the wait was almost as as hard as taking the exam. I dread going through the waiting period again.

Thanks for your time in answering these questions,

j

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