Expensive stethoscope for student?

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I'm beginning nursing school and was given a Littman Master Cardiology stethoscope as a gift. I'm concerned I'll look very obnoxious carrying it around, especially since I'm just starting out. Is that a legitimate concern, or will no one care?

I bought a cardiology III for nursing school and it really helped me differentiate sounds. I use it to this day and it works great for me 5 years later. It really helped when I first started in the icu as well.

Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.

I have a classic III I bought before I was approved for the VA's voc rehab program, and a cardiology IV that the VA got me -- to be honest I prefer the classic, with the cardiology my beginners ears hear too much. It can be distracting trying to listen to cardiac sounds and hearing bowel tones and breathing at the same time :p

I am a CNA, and soon to be nursing student - finishing the last of my gen eds this fall, and I have a classic III that I snagged on sale; I'll use it at work if the dynamap gives me a funky reading - I'll double check with a manual set of vitals.

I've never received a negative comment on my steth; most folks that do notice it say that they like the colors (picked rainbow bell + caribbean blue tubing to make it stand out from the masses of black steths I see haha).

I think people will only find it obnoxious if you were to keep making a point of which kind of steth you have (I'm not saying that you're doing this! But I think a few of us have met 'that' person); even as a CNA, I'm usually far too busy to notice what someone has around their neck haha.

Rock it, enjoy your gift! Get a name tag for it from etsy or somethin' though - the nice steths have a habit of growing legs if you leave them unattended!

Rock it, enjoy your gift! Get a name tag for it from etsy or somethin' though - the nice steths have a habit of growing legs if you leave them unattended!

I agree! If you get the permanent name tag thing that goes around the stethoscope body or bell engraving, you can be sure it'll never get stolen or lost. Always get a stethoscope with your name on it that way if you lose it, someone can return it because there'll be a name on it.

no one will care. thats so awesome that you got yourself a nice stethoscope! I went through nursing school with a $45 dollar stethoscope and it did the job (plus it matched my scrubs ;) ) honestly the only thing that will annoy people is if you start to brag about it... dont be that person in nursing school. I had a girl in my cohort who bragged about the fact that she did an externship at a leading hospital over the summer and a lot of people stopped liking her after we heard it every day for the first week of being back in school.

Lucky!! Don't worry what people think. When you search up expensive stethoscope, Littman comes up. They are amazing, it's good to purchase a great stethoscope because you won't have to worry about buying another one when you start working. My RNs love it so much and I even tested it. It's their babies. Make sure you always have it with you!

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