Please Help Stethescope!!!

O and by the way I have a Littman lightweight stethoscope.

Try littmann's website for visuals

maybe you're putting them in your ears backwards....does it sound any better if you switch them the other way?

hello,

i have just purchased my stethescope from the store. i just got accepted into the nursing program. i am unable for which sounds or beats to listen too. i can't really seem to pick out the lub-dub sounds. as for the ear-buds, which way does it go, im not sure if im putting the ear buds on backwards or not. how do i hold the circular part of stethescope to the chest. cant seem to figure this out!! please help, anyone know articles, videos, hints.. literally anything!

thanks for your time,

i own a littmann (best stethescopes, in my opinion). i believe that all of the earpieces are shaped virtually the same (for the different models i have used, this is true. also, i used to own a light-weight model). the correct placement would be achieved by grasping an earpiece in each hand with the curve of the earpiece pointing away from your body, and then by placing the earbuds firmly in your ears. sometimes i lightly tug on the loop of the earpiece when i get it in my ears, to achieve a better seal with my ears and the earbuds.

as far as holding the chestpiece to the chest or wherever, i hold the it between my fore-finger and middle-finger. thats the way we were taught to hold it and it seems easiest. (dont hold it with your thumb!). important: the head of the stethescope will swivle so that you can listen with the bell or the diaphragm (so you can hear different pitched sounds). make sure the bell is "closed" so that you are able to hear through the diaphragm. you will be able to determine this by tapping on the diaphragm while the stethescope is in your ears. if you don't hear a thunder of sound...you need to turn the head around.

now, listening for heart-sounds is a different story. it is not so simply explained. i am not sure if you have learned the s1, s2, a1, a2, apical sounds yet since you just started. the apical site or apex of the heart is located on the left side of the sternum, mid-clavicular...or "nipple line. if you are listening through larger breasts or fake breasts, you may have to shift them to listen.

here is a good "sounds" website that has help me with the sounds of the heart and lungs, etc:

http://www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/intro.html

parts of stethescope:

http://www.trimlinemed.com/index.php?newpage=support/stethoscopebasics.html

You may want to try Youtube for visuals too. They have some interesting nursing related videos.

The noise you are listening for is not going to sound like a loud lub dub. It's rather soft. Like someone above posted, the bell might be turned. This happened to me with my Litt one day and I panicked until my husband pointed out that it has turned.