watch with sweeping second hand?

Nurses Uniform/Gear

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They are saying we need a watch with a "sweeping second hand" for our clinicals. What is sweeping second hand? Anyone know?

Heidi

Specializes in NeuroICU/SICU/MICU.

I'm a brand-new nurse, and my watch is about as old-school as you can get! :D I got a pocket watch with a second hand. To me, it seems like the perfect solution. Wrist watches interfere with proper handwashing (if it gets wet under the band, I can just feel the bugs multiplying!) and lapel pin watches are hard for me to read. A pocket watch can be pulled out when I need it, left in my pocket when I don't, and held at a comfortable distance for me to see it clearly.

I got a Timex indiglo "Expedition" watch. Water resistent and has small military numbers with the slightly larger regular hourly numbers. Maybe $30-35 at Walmart/Target/KMart. Also, Dakota Watch Co typically have kiosks in the mall or you can order online and can get something similar. I like my Timex though and it works for me.

I'm a brand-new nurse, and my watch is about as old-school as you can get! :D I got a pocket watch with a second hand. To me, it seems like the perfect solution. Wrist watches interfere with proper handwashing (if it gets wet under the band, I can just feel the bugs multiplying!) and lapel pin watches are hard for me to read. A pocket watch can be pulled out when I need it, left in my pocket when I don't, and held at a comfortable distance for me to see it clearly.

How do you handle cleaning the watch? Each time you handle the watch to check the time, wash your hands, and then handle the watch again to check the time, you're recontaminating your hand(s) with whatever was on your hands the previous times you've handled the watch. Unless you're cleaning the watch each time you use it, or each time you clean your hands ... (One of the advantages of wrist watches and lapel watches is that you don't have to touch them to use them -- not the case with a pocket watch.)

I have posted on this subject before,but in regards to a watch with a "sweep" second hand,it refrers to the "movement" of the second hand.You can get an inexpensive watch with a second hand,but it will no doubt be of the "quartz" variety,which run on battery power,nothing wrong with that except when your taking a pulse and looking at your watch,you could end up counting the "clicks" for each second instead of actual heart beats.A true "sweep" second hand is just that,there is no click stops just a smoothe movement of the second hand,the down side is,these are "mechanical" movement which need to be wound and in some cases are "automatic" which means as long as your wearing the watch,it is keeping wound,the other down side is,they are rather expensive.But,they are also some of the most acurate watches available.For me,the perfect nursing watch,IMHO,is the Rolex Explorer II,it is made from a solid block of surgical stainless steel,hermeticly sealed from dust,water,bodily fluids,heat,cold and you can drop it and it keeps on going,and although I have never did it,it can be autoclaved.It has 24 hr/military time on the bezel with a special 24 hr hand,the all important sweep second hand,you can read it in total darkness without disturbing a PT. because it has a luminox dial.And because it is a "certified chonometer"it keeps time acurate enough to navigate an ocean and is "prepetual" or automatic winding with a 12 hr reserve.This is not so much a watch to me as it is a tool,and one I can hand down to my grand kids.But that is what is meant in horilogical terms as a "sweep"second hand.If cost is an issue,I recomend the Timex Military watch,if being 100% acurate is,look into Rolex.

james, somtime in the mid eighties i had a battery operated watch that had a true sweep second hand, and it was not expensive.....it ended up at the bottom of a lake....:crying2:....so they can be made, why are they not?

Sweeping hand = minute hand on the clock. You need it in order to count respirations and pulses. However, you can do the same thing with a digital watch and just use the second counter. It depends how old you are and what kind of watch you grew up using as to what you prefer and what works for you.

= second hand, not minute hand

Yes, a sweep hand is one that doesn't stop at every second. I haven't been able to find one anywhere for a reasonable price...

And I've already spent so much money on all this nursing stuff that I mean VERY reasonable!

My school also requires a sweep second hand on a watch, and I have been going nuts trying to find one! I'm wary about ordering online, as all of the watches I've seen in-store have said "sweep second hand", but wouldn't you know, they tick-tick-tick away (I think my sanity is starting to tick-tick-tick away in preparation for school as well lol). I would hate to order one online just to find the description was wrong.

If anyone finds a reasonably priced, true sweep second hand watch, please let me know, I will be forever grateful! :lol2:

Really? They care about a "sweeping" hand versus "ticking" hand?? How ridiculous. We were supposed to have an "analog watch with second hand" yet they never once checked or seemed to care that we even wore a watch. They also didn't care that some students didn't wear "all white" shoes or that we wore only the "approved styles" of scrubs.

Wonder if the instructors are going to go around and check your watch...ours definitely did not. Good luck :)

Thanks, I ended up getting a sweeping second hand watch from the scrub shop that supplies the schools uniforms. Nursemates makes them, which is what I bought, and Swiss Army has a couple of models.

I don't necessarily think that they are going to inspect everyone's watch in clinicals, but they are very specific about the uniforms and shoes. They did make sure to mention that this type of watch was a necessity for the program, but once we're through, it's up to us if we want a sweeping or ticking. I just didn't want to take any chances with their requirements :p

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