CNA student must buy equipment

hikernurse · Mar 5, 2008

This is just my opinion, but we didn't often use the stethoscope, BP cuff, etc. that we had to buy. Wherever you work will likely have what you need. I bought a cheapie set and it worked fine for what it needed to. Now for NS...I bought a good Littman and found that to be well worth the money because I used it a lot.

As far as scrubs go, again the cheapest (that won't show your underwear ) unless white is the color you need for NS, too.

I found the CNA class to be more expensive than I planned on r/t the extra stuff I had to buy for a 5 week class .

TiggerBelly · Mar 6, 2008

Very rarely do I use my stethoscope at work. We just don't do manual BPs very often. Although since the new contact precautions were put in place, I have been taking manual BPs now, but the BP kit that is chargeable to the patient comes with their very own stethoscope anyway. So I wouldn't go all out for one just for CNA classes. Go to wally world, they have kits for I think $20.

nasaodds · Mar 8, 2008

Walmart has all those things @ a cheap price. I had to buy the cuff and scope to practice with for the cert. test. Not nearly enough practice throughout the class. I searched alot of prices and they were the best for those items. The scrubs are pretty comparable in prices everywhere.

Bayley · Mar 17, 2008

I went ahead and got a good stethoscope (Littman Master Classic for about $120) for my CNA class because the acoustics are alot better for things like taking BP and also I'm hoping to get into nursing school later. That said, alot of the people in my class just got some cheap ones and they seemed fine with them as well so it's up to you and how much you think you'll use it. Most of the BP cuffs seemed the same so I would just look for a cheap one. Usually they have them at a CVS or Walgreens. For my white uniform, I got everything online at allheart.com because they had a good selection of styles and sizes and seemed a bit cheaper than some local stores. Hope that helps. Good luck with your class!

jaywolves · Mar 20, 2008

Well, I started last weekend - Saturday class for 11 weeks - 8 hours a day. We weren't told we had to buy a steth or a sphygmomanometer, but... Our instructor did suggest that if we are going to buy one that cheap is fine unless you are going to go on to nursing school - then BUY A GOOD ONE...

I'd say it is ALREADY more expensive than I took it to be and the homework is far more unreal than I was prepared for when I decided to do this and my pre-nursing, pre-req's at the same time.

I'm now starting to psyche myself out over whther or not I'll be able to handle this, Biology, Chemistry and Intermediate Algebra at the same time.