Littmann Card. III for nursing school?

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Specializes in ICU, Intermediate Care, Progressive Care.

I've looked around the other threads about Littmann's here but haven't quite found the type of thread I'm looking for.

My fiancee wants to buy me a Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope from medisave.net, but before he does I wanted to check and make sure that this will be the best stethoscope for me to use both in nursing school and afterwards. I was a bit concerned that it might be TOO good for school--picking up extra sounds or something? I don't know, I'm just wanting to be sure before he spends $200 on one for me. =)

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I would use a less expensive one for school. Chances of you "losing" it are higher. Easier to replace a cheap scope and they work well enough for the school situation.

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Caliottoe, if losing it wasn't really a concern, would you still recommend getting a less expensive one?

I am having the same question as the OP. Can't figure out if I should go big and get the best so that I can have it for a long time or whether that is just a waste. I also wonder, like the OP, if having a less expensive one is better for "training" the ears and if the really good one picks up uneccessary sounds that will only confuse a student. Hopefully we will see a few more thoughts on this!

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Specializes in ICU, Intermediate Care, Progressive Care.

Hadn't even seen Caliottoe's response, but same question as tag2007. =)

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I have two answers. I think in the beginning hearing less sounds is better, because your going to be learning the basics and it can get confusing so usually a cheaper scope is better. However towards the end of your schooling/clinical's your usually learning more difficult sounds. Minor changes to sounds, and having a cheap stethoscope you'll either be borrowing someone else's or your going to be suffering to hear or not able to hear what your looking for.

Personally I would buy the Litt Cardiology III, but then go to a scrub store and buy a cheap $15-25 scope. Then you have both. The Littmann will last forever if it doesn't grow feet (which happens all too often). Then the 15$ you'll spend on a cheap scope you'll use for about a year will be worth it. You have to learn both those the easy original sounds then be able to distinguish the strange noises your going to learn and often run across in practice.

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I used my Littmann Cardiology 3 through out nursing school and will use it in my career. I had a cheap one for the first semester. It gets the job done, but then after I tried the Cardiology 3, for me there was no way I was going back to my 25 dollar stethoscope. I love it and never had any issues with losing it, I always kept in around my neck, or in the pocket of my lab coat (has my name engraved on it in gold too, though I know if someone wanted to take it this would be irrelevant).

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I recently bought the Littmann Cardio and I LOVE it! The acoustics are awesome and I can hear really well with it. It has a pediatric diaphragm which is really nice when you get to peds. The only thing is that it's a little heavy around the neck and the chest piece can be a little "clunky" at times - but it's still worth it!

However, I do agree with what some of the other users said. The chances of you losing your stethoscope are higher in nursing school, so I would opt for something cheaper. I had a Littmann Classic II S.E. before I bought the Cardiology III - still a GREAT stethoscope. Acoustics aren't as good (7/10 for the Classic II vs. 9/10 for the Cardiology III) but it's lighter compared to the Cardiology III and not as clunky. It's cheaper in price, too. I got mine for $74 from www.reddingmedical.com which includes both tax and S&H. The Cardiology III I bought from work for $159.99. I would maybe buy a cheaper stethoscope first and then buy a more expensive one - that's what I did. And the reason why I wanted to buy the Cardiology III was because of the pediatric side (for peds) and I am also precepting in the ICU this fall (and hope to work in the ICU one day!) and a lot of the nurses suggested the Cardiology III (or Master Classic II). Hope this helps!

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I'd get a Welch Allyn, I'm underwhelmed with Littmann and prefer a traditional double headed stethoscope. You'll mainly be using it to check BP, you don't need to pony up for a cardiology grade stethoscope.

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I have to completely disagree with futurectdoc. You will most definitely not only be taking BP's. If you're in nursing school, you will be checking lung sounds, heart sounds, bowel sounds, AND BP. I did the same thing a few others have mentioned. Got the cheap bookstore stethoscope for first semester, then bought the Cardiology III afterwards. The acoustics on it are SOOO much better. It's definitely worth it if you are willing to spend the money on it. There are some websites out there that have it cheaper than $200, I think mine was $180 for it to be shipped and engraved, total. And like melosaur♥ mentioned, it is a bit heavy and bulky, but you get kinda used to it. Hope this helps!

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I went with the littman master card. scope and never looked back, I should be able to use it for my entire career.

If you want fresh, clean, dry oats then you have to pay for fresh, clean, dry oats. If you want oats that have already been through a horse,....well,....that comes a little cheaper.

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well i am going to buy a card III for my CNA traning and use it for NS and just to get my career started and the hearing is just fantastic or otherwise I would just go for a Master Classic II or Classic II S.E. depending if I wanted a dual head or single.

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thanks for all the info! I think ya'll have convinced me to buy a card III :)

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