Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope or Classic II S.E?

mcknis · Dec 31, 2008

welch allyn, prestige, ADC, DRG (the same ones suggested here). When you graduate you will find out that the docs use both cheap and expensive scopes, so make sure it works for you.

ermen · May 3, 2009

As a matter of interest can someone tell me what nurses usually do with their stethoscopes? Measure BPs? Auscultate?

jhodaki, RN · Jul 16, 2009

As a CVICU RN I very rarely use my stethoscope for BP... we very rarely do manual blood pressures. I only use that if I am working at a community clinic or something random. I use mine for auscultation of breath sounds, heart sounds, and bowel sounds. We do pretty frequent assessments in the ICU, and our patients can change from one minute to the next so it's good to have a decent stethoscope to hear everything and notice any changes in assessment. :rolleyes:

j_tay1981 · Sep 25, 2009

I'm not sure why most nursing students are just stressing and drooling over these Littmann stethoscopes, mostly because of the brand name. I'm guilty of this trend myself, as I own a Classic II SE and Cardiology III scope; however, my gf, who's a 3rd year medical student just told me the other day that her school is steering people away from these tunable diaphragm scopes, as very few med students could use them well in most situations. In contrast to the tunable diaphragm, the traditional floating diaphragm doesn't require a firm and square pressure in order to reproduce accurate high pitch sounds (hardly any patients are flat). Try to compare the low pitch sounds from a traditional deep-cone bell and from a "tuned" low pitch diaphragm on a Littman and you will notice that the bell produces a much cleaner and crisper sound (vs a muffled and boomy sound). This is very easily tested by converting your Cardiology III's pediatric side into a deep bell and then try to see if you can match the quality of the sounds from your tunable diaphragm. This is the reason why medical schools are steering away from these tunable diaphragms, it's a joke. However, I have to admit 3M products are high quality products, just overrated and overpriced. I can be sure once my Cardiology III breaks or is stolen (somebody already took the II SE from my bag), there won't be another Littman stethoscope around my neck. Look around and you will find there are very many quality-built stethoscopes out there at a lower cost (make sure it has a quality steel chestpiece, thick dual lumen tubing, comfortable eartips, etc). Hate to see poor nursing students squeezing out every chunk of their change just to have a "Littmann".

beyondx4,

What you say in this post is what I've been thinking about ever since I bought my Littmann Classic SE II from my nursing school bookstore (I'm a first year). The steth is loud and comfy, but the sound is boomy to me. And varying the pressure, frankly, yields little in terms of discernible sound difference (if anything, its slightly muffled). I wanted to take it back, but lost the receipt

Even though I'm a noob student, I'm just not sold on the tunable diaphragm. Unfortunately, the college only sells Littmann, and w/o a receipt, I could only return it for in-store credit.

I guess sound-wise, I'm not as impressed as every body else is with Littmann (sounds arrogant, doesn't it? Sorry about that!)

I also have an Omron Sprague Rappaport-style 'beater' scope, and a Welch Allyn (Tycos) Professional that was given to me asa gift (I don't want to lose it, so I don't take it to clinicals, though I like the sound of it more - better high end sensitivity IMHO).

What do you like for a student nurse on a budget? Whatever I get, I will also have engraved.