what is a good stethoscope for nursing student?

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For nursing students what are some good choices of stethoscopes to use for nursing school and clinical rotations?

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Specializes in Hospice, Internal Medicine.
For nursing students what are some good choices of stethoscopes to use for nursing school and clinical rotations?

This is the one I bought at my orientation, the current students and instructors recommended it. They said two tubes made it easier to hear. I ordered a few things from the same vendor, Prestige Medical

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I would agree. My friends who are nurses (cardiac and trauma) recommend Prestige. Littmann and DRG are also very good but I ended up purchasing a Prestige very much like the one in the picture. My instructors told me if I was having a hard time hearing (which I was) to try that one. I am in my second week of clinicals and it works great!

Good luck...

Class of 2006:balloons:

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For nursing students what are some good choices of stethoscopes to use for nursing school and clinical rotations?

I have the Prestige Medical brand but only the single tube, not the double tube. I had a double tube (different brand--cheaper) and the NP that I work with said that the single tube is better for hearing than the double tube so I bought this one. It does have a better quality sound that the other one I had.

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

I can't use the double tube....I end up hearing the noise of the tubes touching. I LOVED my Littman Classic SE II. It was about $65 (after engraving) at http://www.allheart.com and it's served me well. At pinning, my husband not only put my pin on, but he came up on stage wearing a new stethoscope and put that around my neck. It was a Master Classic which I've been wanting forever. And it had a new engraving on it....after my name, it said "RN"!!!!

Melanie = )

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Ugh..this has been a sore subject for me, so the best personal advice I can give is to buy a good one straight away. By the time you go through the cheaper ones, and discard them because they aren't any good, you'll have spent the same amount of money.

I'm holding out for that Littman for my b-day in Sept., just in time for the start of second semester. ;)

I agree with the posters who do not like the double tube scopes. We have those where I work as a CNA, and I do not hear as well through them..too much background noise from the tubes. I am currently using a cheap version of an ultrascope (the ones with the plastic bell) and it's okay, but it's nothing like the Littmans I have borrowed on occassion.

Bring someone with a heartbeat to the store with you, and try before you buy!

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Specializes in NICU.

I have a Littman Classic SE II that I used all through nursing school, worked great for me. I bought it from allheart.com for about $60-70, although I would be cautious about buying from that site, it took me over a month to get it.

And I agree with the others .... spend a bit more and get a good, single-tube steth.

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hmm.... I'm going to go the other way with this...

I advise going for something cheapy first... I advise not spending big bucks on a super-scope while you're in school.

why?

Stethoscopes tend to develop legs, and walk away more often than not... and, I'd rather lose a $10-20 one than lose a $40-150 one... (I've lost both, I'd rather lose the cheapy)

I also find the double tube ones heavy, and since I keep it in my pocket, instead of around my neck (an extremely bad habit to get into.... just ask anyone who's had it ripped off their neck by a confused patient, or dipped into whatever goo you happen to be working in...) it tends to be uncomfortable.

I've never had problems with the cheaper, dual headed stethescopes.... only fairly recently did i get a Littman Lightweight (maybe 3 years ago), which was quite a while after I learned how not to get my stethoscope 'borrowed' away from me.

Hope this helps.

--Cashew

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I got a cheapie when I started nursing school and couldn't hear much of anything with it. I eventually gave up on it and got a Litmann Classice SE II.

If you are going to get an expensive stethoscope make sure to get your name on it, a few of my classmates have lost theirs over the past two years and I only avoided losing mine when the nurse who had it couldn't explain why she had my name put on the tubing of her stethoscope (Which she insisted she had purchased over a year ago).

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:) i recommend a littman lightweight. it's light enough to wear around your neck, and since it's a littman, you hear everything!

a lot of people in my school have gotten the cheaper ones and have switched. i've noticed a lot of nurses at our hospital have that steth, too, in a variety of colors.

they're only around $40, too. not too shabby! i put a nametag on there, too...just in case! i think that was $7.

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Yep I learned the value of a good stethoscope at work today. My Prestige is usually pretty good but we had a pt w/ a really cool heart murmur (lub-swish-lub-swish) and I couldn't pick it up very well w/ my steth. I could hear it but it wasn't differentiated very well. I used the NP's Littman and it was way more evident.

So I am going to ask for a Littman for Christmas! (with the Saunders review book of course :chuckle )

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Hi, I just got a new scope and got a ADC 603, looks like a Littman Classic, feels like a Littman Classic, and hears the same. Got mine at UCLA for 36.00, half of what they wanted for the Littman. Looking at it you would not know its not a Littman.

Chet

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