Stethoscope help...

They're ok for hearing BP and breath sounds through the lungs, but that's about it. To me the $15 scope is something you'd leave in your home/auto trauma kit.

Invest in a good one and keep up with it. Lay it down, and it'll disappear.

You could always buy the $15 and see how it goes. It may be totally adequate for your needs, especially in the early program.

If you get to a point where you are struggling to hear things, or realize that somebody else's scope works much better than yours ... spring for a better one. You are placing a $15 bet and if the cheap-o scope grows legs before you have learned to keep up with it, you are only out 15 bucks.

I'll need one for school. My first semester starts in a few weeks. I saw them for $15 at the college bookstore. This seems like a great deal but also seems too cheap. Can I get away with this or should I just buy a better one? Also, if this is a bad idea, which brand do you recommend? Reading through past threads I've noticed stethoscopes tend to get lost...

I bought a Littman Classic IISE. I think I (over) paid around $90 at a nursing supply store in a strip mall, but it does everything I need it to do. Other brands you see listed in that price range apparently perform just as well from the comments I've seen in the past.

I put a little band around it with my name on it and keep it with me and have never had any problem with losing it.

My class must be weird because no one has had their stethoscope pinched. Just lucky with lab partners and clinical sites I suppose.

I meant fellow employees and nurses (particularly CNAs around here) at clinical would be the likely culprit, lol.

I spent a ridiculous amount of money for my Littmann Master Cardiology, but my aging ears need all the help they can get in the back of a noisy, bouncing ambulance. It may be overkill once I'm out of the field and working in a more peaceful environment, so while a $15 scope may leave much to be desired, I don't think you need to go as far as I did for a student scope.

Thanks, everyone. I did take the advice and splurged slightly. I ordered the Littlman II SE from Medisave online w/free laser engraving, $67.99 + shipping. At my orientation they were selling the most of these and I figured I could find them online for a better price. They were being sold for $75 by the rep. I do regret not buying the medical clipboard.