Stethoscopes for HOH

jetsetter · Aug 22, 2005

yes there is. not exactly sure where you can get one, but we were talking about this just the other day

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 22, 2005

Are there special stethoscopes for hard of hearing? I have recently gotten back into nursing and at about the same time I found that I have a hearing loss in my right ear for which I wear a digital aid.
Thanks for any info or guidance.

The E scope by Cardionics, DRG Echo Plus, Adscope656 electronic, Welch Allen Master Elite scope, Mabis Signature electronic scope, Littman 4000 with software, Jabes.

Ranging from $209.00 - $550.00

sbic56, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2005

The E scope by Cardionics, DRG Echo Plus, Adscope656 electronic, Welch Allen Master Elite scope, Mabis Signature electronic scope, Littman 4000 with software, Jabes.
Ranging from $209.00 - $550.00

wow. cheaper to get the hearing corrected.

suebird3 · Aug 22, 2005

Hey, thanks for the post! I got hit by a virus several winters ago....settled in my left ear. Now....Meniere's, vertigo, hearing loss.....I will have to look into these steth's. :lol2:

Yeah, I WILL get that hearing aide....eventually.... :eek:

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2005

wow. cheaper to get the hearing corrected.

Just paid $1400 for a digital hearing aid.

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2005

The E scope by Cardionics, DRG Echo Plus, Adscope656 electronic, Welch Allen Master Elite scope, Mabis Signature electronic scope, Littman 4000 with software, Jabes.
Ranging from $209.00 - $550.00

Just got through paying $117 for my Danscos and $1400 for the hearing aid.

Anyway, at what kind of store would you buy one. A regular store that sells nursing supplies?

Thanks for your reply.

sbic56, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2005

Just paid $1400 for a digital hearing aid.

I hear ya! :chuckle The comment was kinda tongue in cheek...I know hearing aids are pricey, as well! Someday I will have to break down and invest myself, as my own hearing deficit is becoming a PIA! Crowds make me crazy; can't hear a conversation for beans. Sounds like a chicken coop to me.

Indy, LPN, LVN · Aug 22, 2005

I purchased a hearing aid (just one, couldn't afford two) my first week of nursing school with the intent of using it with a regular stethoscope - and took it back a week later for a refund, and ordered an electronic stethoscope.

Reasons: 1. It takes a professional earmold made to go between the outside of the hearing aid and the earpiece of the stethoscope, to make that work.

2. If the speaker of the hearing aid isn't perfectly married to the earpiece on the steth, you get feedback. OUCH.

3. The whole world sounds a lot louder right after you get a hearing aid, and it takes your brain time to learn to listen, all over again, and filter out unneccessary noise.

4. The change in noise coming in one ear made me awfully nauseous while I had it. The brochure said, two months for this to go away. I had checkoffs in two weeks and clinicals in a month; no time to mess with that.

IF you can understand spoken language without a hearing aid, an electronic steth can be very nice. I got a phillips for about $230 online with shipping and extra battery included. I can hear blood pressures and a lot of apical pulses with it; I don't hear murmurs very well with it. It's a very lightweight, hardy scope. You can bang it around and dropping it, etc. doesn't hurt it. About the only thing you can NOT do is dip the earpieces or the head in water. (duh)

Second year, I worried that we'd have to hear heart sounds better so I got a Littman 4000. It's quite a bit louder than the phillips, and I think it's the loudest one out there. It's got all kinds of fancy crap on it like playback and record, that I have no use for. Instead of just bell and diaphragm settings, it also has this funky "extended range" setting that I found some good uses for: verifying absence of breath sounds (need to know if that lung's collapsed), finding bowel sounds in very large patients, and with gel on the diaphragm, instant doppler! I don't think I'll do the gel thing again though, as it took a good amount of time to clean it out of the diaphragm.

The littman is heavy. I have to take it off a lot just to get the weight off my neck. It's also one of the more expensive, mine was $400-something online. It uses two AAA batteries, and I've changed mine once but only 'cause I didn't want crud in the compartment. If I ever turn it up too loud for lung sounds I get static, which sounds a whole lot like crackles- so when I hear crackles I gotta mash a button, turn it down and if it goes away, that was static. If it just gets quieter, it was crackles. Not fun but I'll stand by what I hear.

Anyways, good luck to you with whatever you purchase!

-Indy

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 22, 2005

Just got through paying $117 for my Danscos and $1400 for the hearing aid.
Anyway, at what kind of store would you buy one. A regular store that sells nursing supplies?
Thanks for your reply.

I doubt very seriously you will find these in a "regular" nursing supply store. Now, the uniform shop in my town can order them for those that need them.

You might try online at the manufacturer website of the ones I listed.

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2005

I purchased a hearing aid (just one, couldn't afford two) my first week of nursing school with the intent of using it with a regular stethoscope - and took it back a week later for a refund, and ordered an electronic stethoscope.
Reasons: 1. It takes a professional earmold made to go between the outside of the hearing aid and the earpiece of the stethoscope, to make that work.
2. If the speaker of the hearing aid isn't perfectly married to the earpiece on the steth, you get feedback. OUCH.
3. The whole world sounds a lot louder right after you get a hearing aid, and it takes your brain time to learn to listen, all over again, and filter out unneccessary noise.
4. The change in noise coming in one ear made me awfully nauseous while I had it. The brochure said, two months for this to go away. I had checkoffs in two weeks and clinicals in a month; no time to mess with that.
IF you can understand spoken language without a hearing aid, an electronic steth can be very nice. I got a phillips for about $230 online with shipping and extra battery included. I can hear blood pressures and a lot of apical pulses with it; I don't hear murmurs very well with it. It's a very lightweight, hardy scope. You can bang it around and dropping it, etc. doesn't hurt it. About the only thing you can NOT do is dip the earpieces or the head in water. (duh)
Second year, I worried that we'd have to hear heart sounds better so I got a Littman 4000. It's quite a bit louder than the phillips, and I think it's the loudest one out there. It's got all kinds of fancy crap on it like playback and record, that I have no use for. Instead of just bell and diaphragm settings, it also has this funky "extended range" setting that I found some good uses for: verifying absence of breath sounds (need to know if that lung's collapsed), finding bowel sounds in very large patients, and with gel on the diaphragm, instant doppler! I don't think I'll do the gel thing again though, as it took a good amount of time to clean it out of the diaphragm.
The littman is heavy. I have to take it off a lot just to get the weight off my neck. It's also one of the more expensive, mine was $400-something online. It uses two AAA batteries, and I've changed mine once but only 'cause I didn't want crud in the compartment. If I ever turn it up too loud for lung sounds I get static, which sounds a whole lot like crackles- so when I hear crackles I gotta mash a button, turn it down and if it goes away, that was static. If it just gets quieter, it was crackles. Not fun but I'll stand by what I hear.
Anyways, good luck to you with whatever you purchase!
-Indy

Thank you for taking all the time for giving me all the information. I thought when I went to the dealer to get it adjusted I would ask if they could refer me. I certainly know about the noise. I just started working in a small psychiatric center. The building is so small, the nurses station is right by the med cart and instead of them lining up to get their meds, they hover around talking loudly in a nonstop stream. Then the therapy and the music goes on next to the nurses's station and I just take my hearing aid out. It just feels so stressful. I guess I'm not filtering out the noise very well. I keep having to have it adjusted.

I can understand spoken language without the HA, but not low soft voices.

I just never knew how disabling loss of hearing is. Especially with what we do. It is kind of scary. I am wondering have I covered everything. I had a patient I had to call paramedics for cardiac symptoms. He did have a history of cardiac problems and had all the classic signs. I was a little anxious about it, but after giving the assessment, the doc gave the order.

I appreciate your information. It has been kind of bewildering to me going back into nursing. I am going to look up on the web for the brands you mentioned like Phillips and Littman. I can see my xmas shopping dwindling. Ha ha.

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2005

I hear ya! :chuckle The comment was kinda tongue in cheek...I know hearing aids are pricey, as well! Someday I will have to break down and invest myself, as my own hearing deficit is becoming a PIA! Crowds make me crazy; can't hear a conversation for beans. Sounds like a chicken coop to me.

The noise is really a PIA for me also WITH the HA. Maybe I will find a quieter area of nursing than psych. Right!