Please Help!!!!

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Okay, so I ordered my Littman Stethoscope (Lightweight II S.E.) a while back, and I have been waiting for what seems like forever (but was actually only 2 wks!) for it to arrive. My mom gave me a stethoscope already (school starts on monday) which I planned to use only as a spare for labs, but for clinicals I insisted on going the extra mile and purchasing a littman because I have heard nothing but rave reviews about it on this website, which led me to believe that it must be the best of the best (plus, my mom's steth was sooo cheap I could barely hear anything out of it...she gets them for free at work and has a ton of them).

Well, it just came in the mail maybe 15 minutes ago and......It doesn't work!!! Well, I'm sure it probably does but I have no idea how to get it to work! I have never used a stethoscope before, and I tried reading the manual but the pictures are impossible to figure out, and I just don't get it! I know Littman is supposed to be top of the line, but I cannot hear one single thing out of it (except my own heavy breathing!) even when I tap the diaphragm thing-a-ma-jig!!! I'm sure I am missing something but I have no clue what it could be. The tube is supposed to be adjustable but I did that and it didn't make an iota of a difference. Can anyone who has experience with this stethoscope please help me?? My mom doesn't know how, she's used to the cheap stuff!!

Thanks In Advance!

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Hello???

I'm sure some of you probably think this is a dumb question (rightfully so) but it would still be really helpful if I could get a response.

Thank You

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Specializes in Psych..

I had the same problem when I started out. Someone gave me a Littman when I started nursing school.

Maybe you need to turn the diaphragm. Hold onto the little metal stem that is connected to the rubber tubing and turn the diaphragm 180 degrees. Which way it's turned determines which side you can use, the diaphragm or the bell.

Hope I helped!

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Thanks! I finally figured it out (well actually my hubby did...embarassing, I know!) Thank you for your reply, you did help! That was exactly what he did, apparently I was supposed to turn it until I heard a click....

Thank you for being the only person who cared enough to respond! LOL!!

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Specializes in Psych..

Yay, your stethoscope works!

I sat on my living room floor for what seemed like forever, looking at those stupid little pictures and trying to figure out what was wrong with my stethoscope. I'm just glad I didn't bring it to lab and ask my teacher to fix it for me!

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its not that nobody else cared, just that the post was up in a subforum for less than a day... if you posted this in the main nursing or main school nursing forum you would have had more responses. The more specific your area the longer it takes to get responses (you should see my state's area...dead as a doorknob most of the time)

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Specializes in hospice, pediatrics, substance abuse.

I just now saw the post or I would have responded. As soon as I read it I knew what you needed to do. The same thing happened to me when I got my stethoscope.

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