OCN 2015!!!

hemoncOK · May 18, 2015

How is the test scored? Is it based on a percentage?

Littleguccipiggy · May 18, 2015

Whoa there. First things first. Take a deep breath and calm down. All that anxiety is not going to help you. Go into the OCN the same way one would go into the NCLEX. Its ok if you fail, you can always take it again. Clear you head because that anxiety will cloud your head. That being said, here's what I thought of the OCN. I took the exam this April along with two other coworkers, we all did varying degrees of studying, and we all passed. The best way to study is to do practice questions. All the practice questions you can get your hands on. The ONCC website has free practice questions and another set you can pay for. Get the study guide for the core curriculum in oncology nursing (the green version, not the purple version. I found the purple version too hard compared to the actual exam.) Drugs are generic only, no multiple answer questions, and scoring is based on what's stated on the blueprint. Good luck!

hemoncOK · May 19, 2015

good advice! I have been studying from the purple Core Curriculum, the questions have a lot of select multiple answers and seem harder than the ones on the ONCC website. Thank you for your input!

RADIATION_RN · May 20, 2015

I took the OCN in July of last year and passed. While I did not think it was crazy difficult, it was one of those tests where I had no idea how I did until I hit the "submit" button and it said passed. I took the all day review course offered by the NOEP. It was a great review. You can basically view all of the same material from the comfort of your own home on their website under the OCN review sources and it has lots of videos!

dreavt, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2015

i took the exam 4 years ago and passed, and quite a few of my colleagues (past and present) are also OCN and passed on the first try. In fact the only nurse I personally know of who failed was one who didn't study -- she felt she'd been an oncology nurse long enough (12 years!) that she didn't need to study. Of course the issue is that it tests your knowledge of ALL of oncology nursing -- most of us specialize to some or to a large extent. She'd only ever worked on a med-surg hem/onc inpatient unit (that rarely treated gyn onc patients, they went to another floor), and so of course had little experience with radiation oncology, gyn onc, preventative/screening stuff, outpatient treatments, and so on. So my advice is:

Figure out what you DON'T know -- the study guide that accompanies the Core Curriculum is great for that.

Focus on your weaknesses

Do tons of practice questions -- don't get frustrated when you get some wrong, figure out what went wrong when you were answering -- sometimes it's not that you don't know the answer(s), it's that you misread/panicked/overthought

Try to let go of anxiety

Take your time and do your best, knowing that if you fail, it is NOT the end of the world -- you can try again!

Good luck -- you'll be fine!

Drea

OCNRN63, RN · Jun 10, 2015

I took the OCN in July of last year and passed. While I did not think it was crazy difficult, it was one of those tests where I had no idea how I did until I hit the "submit" button and it said passed. I took the all day review course offered by the NOEP. It was a great review. You can basically view all of the same material from the comfort of your own home on their website under the OCN review sources and it has lots of videos!

I didn't know they had that. That's nice to know, although I won't be able to recertify after mine expires this time (2018).

sewnmom, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jul 29, 2015

I took the OCN two weeks ago and passed. I thought it was difficult because it covered so much information. I used the GREEN hardback Cancer Nursing book that I borrowed from work and went through the Jones and Bartlett OCN review course book. I used that Jones/Bartlett book of questions and the online questions with the rationales that have page numbers in the Cancer nursing book. There were several typos in the online JB questions however having the Cancer Nursing (the text book is HUGE) right there was an awesome study tool. I also used the online free tests from ONS and the purchased tests as well. I used sites like CRAM and QUIZLET to check out other study aids. I did those when I had a little bit of time and didn't want to do a lot.

I used the exam blueprint and laid out a study plan and schedule. However, a family emergency requiring surgery and intense rehab put a kibosh on that well laid plan. I went through and did a review of the material on each section of the exam. The JB review was set up by those sections. I would study, test and repeat. The practice questions were the best thing I did. The ones you buy from ONS are only good for 2 weeks so those were the final phase. I was pleased when I got higher scores on those the first time I did them at that time.

I buzzed through most of the questions but I flagged over 20! When I went back the answers were apparent on most of them but maybe 5. When you are done, you page through several pages until you get to the HIT THE SUBMIT button to see your score. I stayed on that page longer than I had for any question on the exam. Fear and trepidation...I was ready to cry. Which I did but because I passed.

A healthy fear of an exam can be a good thing!

Good Luck!

hemoncOK · Jul 29, 2015

Thank you so much for the information!!!