Msmith43

The tubing seems fine. The rim of the bell side is the beat up part, part of it is chipped off so I won't use that side on patients

I'm a nursing student, currently I use a littman lightweight 2 se that I had given to me. It's a bit beat up and I have trouble hearing apical pulses and breath sounds with it sometimes. I asked my clinical instructor if she had any suggestions and one of them was to get a cardiology stethoscope. I'm looking to buy a better one, but I was wondering if a cardiology IV would be worth the price or if I should go with a classic III, considering I'm having some issues hearing good with the lightweight.

I would never leave it at the nurses station. I imagine that's the biggest cause of them "walking off".

I have a very similar problem. I came on here to ask and then saw this post. I'm in 2nd semester of nursing school. Currently using a lightweight 2 SE that was given to me. It's a little used and beat up, but hey it was free to start with. As far as I know I don't have any significant hearing loss. I'll admit it's probably not great though. But with some patients (usually on the heavy side), I have a hard time hearing apical pulse and lung sounds. I can hear my fingers creak if they move ever so slightly holding the bell side, and it's not turned to the wrong side. That sound really makes it harder. I think it's due to the plastic/resin material the lightweight headpiece is made of. I mentioned my troubles to my clinical instructor and one of her suggestions was to get a cardiology stethoscope. I'm wondering now if a cardiology would be overkill for nursing and if I'd be fine with a classic III. It seems to me that's what a lot of the staff nurses use at the hospital and It's mostly docs with the cardiologys. I don't to be the weirdo using a fancy higher end steth than is maybe necessary, but I also don't want to have any doubt that I'm hearing everything good.