[BeccaznRN]

Go for the Littman. I have a Cardiology III - it ran about $130 but I would buy it all over again, especially since I'm going to be working on a cardiothoracic ICU after graduation.

[firstyearstudent]

I bought my stethoscope on the low end because I am forgetful and didn't want to be bummed if I lost it. So far it's been great...

[Fun2Care]

I bought a Littmann Cardiology III as well. I love it, love it, love it!


I have several cheapos from being a Medical Assistant, but I wanted to make sure I heard what I really needed to hear being a nurse. (Not just Blood Pressures)




I paid around $130 on allheart.com, but it was backordered for a couple of weeks.



The other Littmanns may be good too, but I'm not sure.

[charebec65]

I bought a Littman Master Classic II and love it. It cost about $100 with shipping, tax and having my name put on it but I love it. I'm hard of hearing and couldn't hear much with the cheaper scope I had but can hear clearly with this one.

[WDWpixieRN]

I've been concerned because my hubby has a Littmann cardiac stethoscope that he's offered for my use (he's a chiropractor).

I haven't yet been in school, and he had a horrible headache and asked me to take his blood pressure. He tried and tried to tell me how to do it, but I couldn't even hear a heartbeat unless I held it to the chest area!! He said maybe it wasn't a good one for me....should I wait until school starts and get good instruction on how to do this before I try another stethoscope or start looking now?

My biggest fear is that I'm stethoscope-challenged and won't make it beyond this in nursing school!!! ARGH!!

[Icess64]

Originally Posted by charebec65

I bought a Littman Master Classic II and love it. It cost about $100 with shipping, tax and having my name put on it but I love it. I'm hard of hearing and couldn't hear much with the cheaper scope I had but can hear clearly with this one.

I got the same thing, with my name lasered onto it and all that. I've heard the good ones just tend to grow legs and walk away, so I wanted to make sure that doesn't happen! I'd be bummed to spend the money on an expensive Littman only to have it stolen. I'm glad to hear you love it, it came highly recommended from the 2nd yr. students in my program!

[LanaBanana]

Originally Posted by wdwpixie

I've been concerned because my hubby has a Littmann cardiac stethoscope that he's offered for my use (he's a chiropractor).

I haven't yet been in school, and he had a horrible headache and asked me to take his blood pressure. He tried and tried to tell me how to do it, but I couldn't even hear a heartbeat unless I held it to the chest area!! He said maybe it wasn't a good one for me....should I wait until school starts and get good instruction on how to do this before I try another stethoscope or start looking now?

My biggest fear is that I'm stethoscope-challenged and won't make it beyond this in nursing school!!! ARGH!!

Maybe it's toooo good for blood pressures? I don't know if that's possible. According to this website, it doesn't look like cardiology scopes are rated for general physical assessments http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...oducts/search/

Maybe somebody else has input on this. I think getting used to hearing the bp is an aquired skill and I know I'm still improving. One thing you can do is go to some of the stores that sell scopes and ask to try some of them and do it with a bp cuff just to see.

[firstyearstudent]

Originally Posted by wdwpixie

I've been concerned because my hubby has a Littmann cardiac stethoscope that he's offered for my use (he's a chiropractor).

I haven't yet been in school, and he had a horrible headache and asked me to take his blood pressure. He tried and tried to tell me how to do it, but I couldn't even hear a heartbeat unless I held it to the chest area!! He said maybe it wasn't a good one for me....should I wait until school starts and get good instruction on how to do this before I try another stethoscope or start looking now?

My biggest fear is that I'm stethoscope-challenged and won't make it beyond this in nursing school!!! ARGH!!

I was concerned about this, too, and now I am pretty good with a stethoscope (good for a student). I can heart lung sounds pretty well I can get it BP 90% of the time. The hardest BPs for me are when someone has an irregular heartbeat.

I think it just takes practice. We had a practicum for vitals and I practiced on my husband 3 or 4 times a night for a week. At the end of the week I was doing fine. I also found another student who was not good at BP and we practiced on each other before class. Then I volunteered for a community blood pressure screening. I did about 25 blood pressures in 2 hours or so and was a lot better at it after that...

[moongirl]

[quote=SOON_2_BE_RN]I paid $75 for a Littman's, and thats a pretty good scope.[/quote

Classic II SE. awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

[allthingsbright]

My choice--a cheap ($15) sprague. It works great and I dont have to worry about someone taking off w/ it. When I grad, if someone wants to buy me a Litt, then they can go for it!