[EMTandNurse2B]

I have a Cardiology III and love it. It never leaves my neck for fear it will walk off.

That came back to bite me on my first day on the job as a new LPN. I had decided to not take my stethoscope for fear of I don't know what. I had been previously informed that the nursing home prefers we use the ones they provided. So, I go in to take an apical pulse on a patient before giving his Coreg (he has problems with arrythmias so we watch closely). I couldn't hear a thing with the cheap stethoscope! I'm nervous as can be, this is my first night on the job, and I can't even find a heartbeat! The patient informed me that he was still alive, so he had to have a heartbeat, but I counldn't hear it! I finally found the very faint heartbeat with the stethoscope, but the nurse did wonder what took me so long to count a pulse! The rest of the night I had to really concentrate to hear anything out of that scope. The next night I had my own stethoscope around my neck.

[happynewLPN]

I need to have one with both the diaphragm and the bell. Any recommendations out there for a good one?

[grammyj]

Originally Posted by Scrubz

The coolest part is being able to hear the blood moving around when the heart contracts.

No way. If you can hear that well, I'm getting one too!

[Scrubz]

Originally Posted by Julielpn

No way. If you can hear that well, I'm getting one too!

Yeah, it's pretty cool. You have to touch the diapraghm very lightly to the skin to get the lower frequencies, and that's when you hear it. It's like the booming beats, then the sqish sound afterwards.. It's really cool!!

[Scrubz]

Originally Posted by Julielpn

No way. If you can hear that well, I'm getting one too!

Yeah, it's pretty cool. You have to touch the diapraghm very lightly to the skin to get the lower frequencies, and that's when you hear it. It's like the booming beats, then the sqish sound afterwards.. It's really cool!!

[chmiller1229]

150.00? I definatly need one of my own for EMS and Nursing!
PS, I believe you will pay more for one from specialtist like for uniform shops, galls.com, or penncare.

[PMuetzel]

I'm in my 2nd semester of the nursing program (2 more to go!!). I'm awaiting the arrival of my master cardiology steth. I can't wait! I purchased it from Ebay. The one I have now is for the birds (double tubing for 1). I've had a hard time with it from the beginning, especially listening for heart sounds on a large person with CHF. I had to bring my instructor into the room and have her listen. Then I had asked if I could listen with hers and WOW!! It's so worth the investment.

[Myxel67]

Go to the Littmann website, or to Stethoscopes.com. I believe they show a comparison. I believe the Master Cardiology is rated 10 with superior accoustics, and the Cardiolgy III is rated 9 with outstanding accoustics.

You might look at Magna Fortis as well. They also make excellent stethoscopes.

[Myxel67]

Originally Posted by imatarb

I need to have one with both the diaphragm and the bell. Any recommendations out there for a good one?

The Littmann Cardiology III has a bell & diaphragm. Also Magna Fortis makes good stethoscopes.

Even though the Littmann Master Cardiology does not have a bell, you get the same effect. It has what they call a tunable diaphragm. By applying lighter pressure you get the effect of the bell for listening to lower frequency sounds.

[Carla25]

Is this stethoscope as good as everyone is saying, I am thinking about buying one. I want to make sure this will be a good investment first.
Where is the best place to buy?