stethescope brand

[brownrice]

Hello..and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I am required to purchase a stethoscope for NP clinicals. The syllabus says that equipment needed is a "quality stethoscope", then goes on to list several companies and 800 numbers from which to choose.

Can someone please recommend what will be a good piece of equipment for me if I am in the FNP track? The stethoscope I used previously in pre-NP days was only about $40 Bucks, killed my ears and felt like it was pinching my head off..was difficult to concentrate on heart sounds when all I could think about was pain! There was a problem with nicer equipment getting ripped off, so I was reluctant to make the investment back then.

Also, any recommendations on PDA's that are user friendly? Do most NP's end up using them very much? What might I find them most useful for as a go through clinical rotations in the next couple years?

Muchas Gracias.

[WhitDogg19]

Happy New Year! I have a copule of opinions for you.

1. For a stethoscope, you want quality for your NP clinicals (I am on an NP track as well). Try one of the Littmann stethoscopes. You can get them from places like Allheart.com or the actual Littmann website (just do a search for 3M Littmann Stethoscopes). You can also get a ton of other fun stuff from Allheart.com! The benefit of going to the Littmann website itself is a wider selection of kinds of stethoscopes (cardiac, classic, infant, lightweight, etc.), as well as a huge selection of fun colors! :rotfl: I personally think that the Littmann II classic is the most versatile. It is very comfortable on the ears!

As far as PDA's go, I highly recommend the Treo 650. This is a spectacular PDA that can be used as a cell phone, a PDA, your day planner - I have pretty much gotten it to do everything for me short of my laundry and the dishes! It is great! What do you have for cell phone service?? Seriously, I have Sprint service, and I use this PDA for everything!!! I even have a few Nursing programs stored on it that are quick references for things like drugs, NSG diagnoses, etc. If you would like any more info on this topic, please feel free to PM me - I can't say enough for this product!

Happy shopping!

-WhitDogg

[brownrice]

Hello Whitdogg19! I sent you a pm, but thought others might also learn from our conversation, so here's more questions if you're up for them!

What did you spend on the PDA?

How much memory?

Phone plan?

Where is a good place to buy it?

I went to the treo 650 website and was totally confused after browsing. If you don't know what you're dealing with it's hard to know what to buy. At least I'm now pointed in a direction. Thanks for the stethoscope info, too!