Pediatric stethoscope?

[brokenroads27]

this might be a really stupid question, but im just curious. i only have an adult stethoscope & will be doing a pediatric rotation. can i still use it for peds? i was unsure if you could use the bell of the stethoscope for pediatrics since its smaller or if i would have to buy a whole new stethoscope. its not really worth buying a new one though because our rotation is so short. just wondering!

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Yes you can use the bell but also make sure to use the diaphragm as well. They are both designed to pick up on different sounds ( highs and lows ). But yes adult ones work just fine.

[anonymousstudent]

I'm one of those "sound purists," so take it or leave it. lol

First of all, it might not even matter. Your rotation in peds will probably be in a hospital, and they may have dedicated equipment and not want your nasty (though cleaned 8 bajillion times with alcohol) steth in thier area. hehe

I agree that it doesn't matter in some respects. But you have to be able to get a firm seal, and sometimes the adult steth is just too darn big. I had to get a pediatric steth when my baby started having respiratory issues (RAD for now ), and I believe I can hear better with it than with the adult. It is especially noticable when listening to heart sounds.

But my kids are small. I'm not sure what the average age of the kids you'll see will be, but I'd say it's likely many of them will be older than 4 or 5, and you'll be listening to lung sounds for the most part, and that's OK...

So my advice...if you're going to use it a lot, get a pediatric stethoscope. If you want to specialize in that area, you might as well. But just to get through 1 clinical rotation where you might not be able to use it anyway? I wouldn't.

Clear as mud?

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Yes you can use the bell but also make sure to use the diaphragm as well. They are both designed to pick up on different sounds ( highs and lows ).

That's important. A common mistake: using one side of the stethoscope for big patients and the other side for pedi patients.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

I am told to never use an adult stethoscope to listen to infants/ toddlers ( kids) heart. That is because the adult diaphragm is big and the kids heart is small and you won't know if you are hearing S1 or S2 and also you don't know if you are in the pulmonic, mitral, tricuspid, aortic area. By the way, you don't have to buy another stethoscope for peds you can simply go and buy a smaller head/diaphragm, that's what I did.