pediatric vs adult stethoscopes

[Niecystewka_RN]

Hey everyone... I had a question about pediatric vs adult stethoscopes. Do you really need to have a 'special' stethoscope to hear children vs adult lung/heart sounds. I wanted to buy a new stethoscope, but wanted to know if I should buy just a regular one or a duo w/ an adult and a pediatric head that connects separately but w/ one tubing. Let me know... I would really appreciate it greatly.

[MikeyBSN]

It depends where you work. If you work in the NICU then you shouldn't bother with the adult scope, and if you work in med-surg then a ped scope probably won't do you much good. If you work in a mixed setting, then I would get one. I have two and I think it makes a big difference. I use my peds scope all the time.