Best men's watch for male nurses

Nursing Students Male Students

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Hey everyone. I'm starting nursing school next month and am looking for a cheap watch that's good for when I'm in the hospital. I've seen people mention military time is useful, plastic bands and water resistant so it can't be thrown in the washing machine if it gets dirty. Anyone out there who is in school or working have any suggestions? Thanks

I have spent a lot of time researching watches, trying a few on, and so on. Im going to be entering my nursing program in August. This is however, not my first rodeo in the medical field. Criteria for a good nursing watch as far as I could figure are as follows.

1.) Needs to be low profile

2.) Minimal raised edges to prevent tearing my gloves or patient's skin

3.) Quick and easy to read

4.) Needs a second hand

5.) Needs to have a minimal amount of cravasis for blood and feces to get stuck in

6.) Needs to be waterproof for cleaning

7.) The band cannot be porous, and full of henges or moving parts..again a way to clean and protect from bloodborne pathogens.

Not required but I wanted it..

*8.) I also wanted a watch with tritium, because it's freaking cool..but it's nice to be able to read the watch in low light without having to press a button, or worry about how much daylight it had to charge the luminous hands.

After much research and toil I picked a chinese brand called Carnival..the fancy watch boards gave it nice reviews and it seems as though they use real honest Swiss Movements, and the tritium is very bright. It came with a metal band that I removed as soon as it arrived and replaced it with a quick release silicone band made by a company called Barton. So far I really like the look and weight of the watch. I added some pictures of it with the quick release bands, look for the little nubs on the band and you can see how the bands are replaceable. The watch was just under 100.00 and the bands were about 12.00 each after a little discount offer they had at the time.

Maybe after I get my first nursing job I will pick up a Tracer or Luminox..

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my personal choice, cheap, easy to read and has every hour as a number along with smaller military hours and the other dial. they come in several colors and walmart sells these too. I only wear a watch when at the hosp so didn't want to spend much on it.

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Timex sells an analog watch on amazon for about $25 that has both normal 1-12 and then in smaller print 13-24. You want the analog hand for timing respirations/pulse and the military time is useful because some charting systems use it exclusively.

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Specializes in Nurse Anesthesiology.

I wear a Breitling SuperOcean 44 with a rubber band at all times when I'm working. Love it. It's automatic, waterproof, and has sapphire crystal so no scratches.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
soutthpaw said:
my personal choice, cheap, easy to read and has every hour as a number along with smaller military hours and the other dial. they come in several colors and walmart sells these too. I only wear a watch when at the hosp so didn't want to spend much on it.

Thanks soutthpaw, you selected my watch for me. Got the blue numbers one :D Seems decent and can wash my hands to kingdom come and back without worrying about it.

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+1 on buying cheap throwaway watches; Walmart stuff with a large face/hands to easily see. My second option lately is my Fitbit blaze the unit itself pops out of the band making it very easy to clean the band. The unit itself is "splash-proof" but not waterproof but I haven't had any issues. The countdown timer menu takes a few seconds to get to and start (if preset at the countdown time you want; I leave mine at 30 seconds) but if you have to change it from 30s to a minute that can take a few more seconds. It's nice though because it vibrates when the countdown is done and I don't have to watch the clock or countdown timer.

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Rolex GMT master. Built like a tank, will last forever if you take care of them. The 904L stainless steel is antimicrobial, easy to clean. I can't imagine a rubber or plastic watch in a medical setting. Gross. Another cheaper alternative is the seiko 5, fully automatic, but then were back at the bacteria issue with the cloth strap.

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ColoradoRocky said:
Yeah right. $8000 watch. For duty as an RN. Tell us, what color is the sky in your world?

If you use it everyday, it's worth it; and it's a tax write-off if it's equipment for work. Would you rather buy something once and have it last forever, or keep buying something over and over again for a cheaper price? You don't have to go with Rolex, but there are very high quality watches that are comparable for cheaper. Breitling, Seiko, Omega are all solid brands; and you will LOVE your watch.

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Yeah right. $8000 watch. For duty as an RN. Tell us, what color is the sky in your world?

...And the topic is what is the BEST, so there is your answer.

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On 2/22/2018 at 1:51 PM, Mr_Edwino said:

If you use it everyday, it's worth it; and it's a tax write-off if it's equipment for work. Would you rather buy something once and have it last forever, or keep buying something over and over again for a cheaper price? You don't have to go with Rolex, but there are very high quality watches that are comparable for cheaper. Breitling, Seiko, Omega are all solid brands; and you will LOVE your watch.

I just use cheap walmart watches because I'm OK with getting someone's diarrhea all over that. So going by how long they last me, my lifetime total in watches will be about $150

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Specializes in Critical Care.
On 2/22/2018 at 1:51 PM, Mr_Edwino said:

If you use it everyday, it's worth it; and it's a tax write-off if it's equipment for work. Would you rather buy something once and have it last forever, or keep buying something over and over again for a cheaper price? You don't have to go with Rolex, but there are very high quality watches that are comparable for cheaper. Breitling, Seiko, Omega are all solid brands; and you will LOVE your watch.

With the new tax laws, unless the watch is over $12,500, you won't be able to write it off....

And even if you do, good luck convincing an IRS auditor that a watch that expensive is a usual, necessary, customary and reasonable expense.

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What did you get OP, if you're still around : )

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