CoarsegoldTom

I did some similar searching last year when I was confronted with a similar situation. I didn't find a whole lot of aid specifically for men, but then maybe I'm not so great at bird dogging this type of info. If you're a recognized minority of some type, I'm sure your financial aid counselor will have some suggestions. If worst comes to worst you might consider a slight detour: In California (and maybe your state) psych techs are licensed by the same board that licenses LVNs (aka LPNs). The first semester of the training is the same as RN and gets you a little further down the road. The program here completes in one year. The upside is that there are some pretty well-paid psych tech jobs, if you're willing to work with the nasties. In my area of California, an 18 y.o. high school graduate can walk into a program and 1 year later theres a job at a state facility for violent sexual offenders that pays $50k or so. Not for the faint of heart, but at least it gets you earning something pretty quick. Best of Luck. I feel for you.

That heat shrink tubing sounds like just the thing! Is it durable enough that it would stand up to use on a stethoscope, do you think? I wonder if it comes in a large enough diameter? Those Spragues are pretty fat. Thanks for the tip!

"They are attracted to the profession because they like the idea of people DEPENDING on them...at the same token they depend on their patients or wards to feel good ..." Truer words were never spoken. Not that this applies to the majority of nurses or even the majority of women in nursing. But there is a significant proportion that want to star in their own private soap opera and I try to steer clear of them. There's one poster on this thread (a woman, I believe) whose tag line is "The person claiming to despise drama has the biggest spoon in the pot." Amen to that. I should 'fess up': I, too, like having people depend on me, as long as I'm capable of delivering what they need. I don't think this quite counts as a pathology although it can slip into it. It does gives my life some significance to affect people's well-being in a material and immediate way, whether it's my wife, my kids or my patients. I'm just wired that way, so I might as well make a career out of it. Actually, one of the things I enjoy most about the environment is that female nurses tend to be kind of "men's women" - i.e. they stick to the facts and deal with the situation at hand. Plus they dig weird stuff, like interesting wounds, etc.; that type of gal-pal is a lot of fun to be around.

My MD was a chiro first, although he doesn't practice as one now, so far as I know. I think his chiro training gave him a more "hands-on" and wholistic approach than most docs I've had. I'm very happy about that. He's just as likely to prescribe a book as a medication. Good luck in your endeavors!

"heat shrink tubing"? That sounds interesting. Where do you get it and how do you use it? I was figuring just to tape the tubes and then put a washable cover over it because I think the tape would be something of a bug magnet, even more than the tubing itself. I was actually concerned that the cover might cause more "mystery noise". I'll be curious to hear how your Cardio-Clone works out. Perhaps you can update this thread later when you've had a chance to use it some? BTW, I'd also be curious to hear what you made of that study I linked to. Personally, I was impressed with their thoroughness and wonder that they didn't try to publish it in a peer-reviewed journal.

Howdy McKnis- I think the article you saw must've been a different one. The study I'm referring to was published in July of last year and the Sprague-Rappaport they refer to is the only one that Omron makes and retails for about $20.00. I'm not sure where it's manufactured (probably China, judging by the price) or how it will perform since I've not received it yet. I've heard that Spragues can cause a bit of artifactual noise from the two tubes rubbing together. I've also hear that this can be remedied by the judicious application of tape. Of course, that would bring up some hygiene issues but I think that could be dealt with by buying one of those darling stethoscope covers. I'm thinking either CareBears or Unicorns. Overall, I'm amazed at the lack of objective info available. How are you enjoying your first year of nursing? Tom

Yeah, not many of us have the ability to grind up a perfectly good stethoscope to find out what the plastic is made of. Sounds like it would be fun to do, though. Don't you think it's odd that a product selling millions of units every year at prices between $10 and several hundred dollars doesn't have any objective data available on some consumer/health care website anywhere? I found one small study (see link in my original post) that analyzed some top sellers, but outside of that I didn't find much of anything. Maybe Consumer Reports? I'm not willing to subscribe just to research one product. If somebody reading this thread has a subscription, maybe they could check it out.

Interesting info about the PVC composition, JJ. How is it possible to find out what a given stethoscope is made of? BTW, talk about your right angle career turns: plastics compounder to RN. Bet there's a story behind that! I'm ex-sales, myself. Tom

Hi Angel- I was in a quandary about this for the longest time. You'd think with all the millions of nurses, CNA's etc there'd be some sort of objective, evidence based analysis of the top sellers, like they write up cars or air conditioning units in Consumer Reports. I finally found one: http://www.forusdocs.com/reviews/Acoustic_Stethoscope_Review.htm It was written by a panel of clinicians who analyzed instruments in an electronics lab as well as the clinical setting. The results are amazing. A little $10.00 cheapie beats out all the higher priced models except for Littmann's Cardio III and it loses to that one only by a hair. Happy Shopping!