I was reading a few posts on here and I saw a few people say that they bought a good stethoscope (a littmann for example) and used that for learning, clinicals basically ... that was their main stethoscope.
But then they also bought a cheaper stethoscope (like a prestige stethoscope/ BP cuff combo package for 30-40$) and they used that BP cuff for practice/ lab and then kept that stethoscope in their car so they always had a back up stethoscope in case they forgot their "good" stethoscope at home on a day of lab/clinical.
I did, but I'm 'tragically unorganized' lol. one of them was only $5. Worth it since my program would send you home if you showed up to clinical without your stethoscope.
And now I have a little collection going on: my littman that I bought in nursing school, the cheap one I bought as a backup, another cheapo that they gave me in nursing school that I could never hear a damn thing out of, and my mom's from when SHE was in nursing school that she gave me when I graduated. (I don't use that one because it's too short to hang around my neck and I wouldn't want to lose it.)
I'm thinking about getting a cardiac one because I'm a little hard of hearing and would appreciate not having to strain to hear stuff. lol.
I have an extra...mostly because sometimes I lose an earpiece or something while I'm at clinicals and don't have time to replace it before I go back to clinicals again the next day. My nursing school gave us a crappy prestige one though, so I only actually paid for one of mine.
I've had three, but not used them at the same time: first one was a cheap Prestige one (fifteen bucks I think); could hear just fine with it and used it all through nursing school. My last semester I decided to invest $50 in a Littman Select (teardrop shaped bell) because "Littman is the best". Ummm....ok, except IMO it was far from it: couldn't hear a blessed thing out of it! Well, not exactly, just that it was clearly inferior to the cheapie model as far as MY ears were concerned. Went back to the cheapie for the rest of school.
For graduation, did some research and decided that I wanted to have the best (AND the best I could really HEAR with!). I asked for the Littman Master Cardiology for a grad gift from a generous relative :)
I have used that for years, still use it, and I swear I can hear a bee fart at ten paces with that thing :)
Point of this post is, bottom line: whatever YOU HEAR BEST with is what you should use. And you don't need more than one, can't figure that one out. Do you keep multiple sets of your schoolbooks, multiple BP cuffs, multiple everything? Hardly. Be responsible for where you leave your stuff and that's it.
Honestly, I don't know that I'd suggest that an entire nursing class choose more expensive scopes....fact is, many of those students will fail out and having paid for a pricey scope won't prevent that--it'll just leave them more in the financial hole.
you only need to buy one AND you will not forget it if that's the only stetoscope that you own. In all of my nursing education I n have never forgotten my steteoscope because its part of my uniform, I have a clinical only canvas bag which I keep all clinical gear in (afterwards I disinfect the whole set). I use littman LE or was it SE invested in a good one about $75 and one time it came in handy I suspected I heard some abnormal breathing with a newborn and flagged down my professor to check and indeed it was. Being that its a nice one you don't lend it out, it says with you and if someone wants to borrrow it because its clear i'm sorry I dont lend my scopes out. Classmates can save up and buy thier own, i like mine and rather not have it stolen.
I had the littmann lightweight II se for nursing school and it was not too expensive (maybe $50-60) and it worked really well. Actually - just saw it on amazon for around 45. I would spend the money - if you can't hear properly - it's not worth having a cheap steth & the ones from isolation - you can't hear anything - hate them!! Recently got a new one as a present for graduation. Love littmann!!
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
i left my good stethoscope in the car- and still do. that way i always had it for clinicals, lab, class, etc.
i didn't see any reason to keep my stethoscope in the house. that was just asking for it to be left behind.
eta: if you forget your stethoscope at clinical, grab one of those disposable isolation stethoscopes. if you forget it for lab, borrow a friend's.
a good steth should not be left in the car. extremes in temperature can ruin the tubing. if you're going to drop a big chunk of change for one (and i don't think you need a $200 steth as a student), take good care of it.
my first litmann master cardiology iii lasted me over 17y. it developed a small crack at the diaphragm. a little bit of cloth tape fixed it right up, and it still serves as my back-up stethoscope. i'm planning on having this one last me till i die.
I bought a cheap one on allheart but the it sucks. It would always end up on the bell side and I would have to turn it for minutes before it would finally get on the diaphragm side. So for my final year I invested in a good littman that was on sale on allheart.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
an entirely different point of view: littmans et al can disappear when a sticky fingered person (doctor implied) asks to "borrow" yours. never, never, never lend an expensive one without getting something like a wallet, shoe, watch as a deposit. if someone tries to take yours-refuse. that is why i kept a rotton old $6 faded red one tube one in my other pocket visible while my littman was hidden in the other pocket.
i would occasionally loan mine to one of our oncs. i knew he'd give it back, plus our dept was open so i would have seen if he had forgotten to give it back
The college I went to gave us a really nice Littmann as part of our course supplies. I wound up buying another Littmann that was purple. Why? Because even with out stethoscopes labeled, when EVERYONE has the exact same stethoscope, they get mixed up. Beyond that, I can't see having two unless you needed a specialty stethoscope.
pomegranate
87 Posts
I did, but I'm 'tragically unorganized' lol. one of them was only $5. Worth it since my program would send you home if you showed up to clinical without your stethoscope.
And now I have a little collection going on: my littman that I bought in nursing school, the cheap one I bought as a backup, another cheapo that they gave me in nursing school that I could never hear a damn thing out of, and my mom's from when SHE was in nursing school that she gave me when I graduated. (I don't use that one because it's too short to hang around my neck and I wouldn't want to lose it.)
I'm thinking about getting a cardiac one because I'm a little hard of hearing and would appreciate not having to strain to hear stuff. lol.