I have a prob with my stethoscope, I bought the cheap one because I knew they are predominantely used in those government funded hospitals we got here in Australia and I figured if I could master the cheap and nasty then I'd be right. Here's my problem: I cannot hear through my stethescope! I've repositioned it, I even tried using another stethoscope to no avail. Because I'm a nursing student I was being assessed on this!
The suggestions why it wasn't working were as follows:
-my stethoscope is sick and i need a new one
-i got fluid in my ear, but my Dr doesnt think its enough to cause the prob
-it was noisy during the test
-i need more practise
Are there any others out there who have had a similar problem or are there any suggestions for me? I don't want to get a new steth if I'm going to have the same prob. I know my method is correct because I only passed due to the fact that I was doing everything right except hearing the bloody pule!
I have always had intermittent problems with my "good" Littmann II that I bought for nursing school. I finally figured out that it is because the soft ear tips get squashed in my weirdly-shaped ears (I can't use ear buds with my iPod, either--they fall out). I have been using an Adscope with hard ear tips at work, and about 5 minutes ago I found my Littmann box and realized that my Littmann came with 2 pairs of soft ear tips... AND a set of hard ones! Woo-hoo!
Anyway, the suggestions above are also good, especially turning the bell to make sure you're listening on the right side.
wannabecnl
341 Posts
I have always had intermittent problems with my "good" Littmann II that I bought for nursing school. I finally figured out that it is because the soft ear tips get squashed in my weirdly-shaped ears (I can't use ear buds with my iPod, either--they fall out). I have been using an Adscope with hard ear tips at work, and about 5 minutes ago I found my Littmann box and realized that my Littmann came with 2 pairs of soft ear tips... AND a set of hard ones! Woo-hoo!
Anyway, the suggestions above are also good, especially turning the bell to make sure you're listening on the right side.