stethoscope queries

[road runner2003]

G'day,

I would like to ask where the 'best' place to buy a stethoscope would be?

Being a student earlier this year I eagerly purchased myself a cheap dual head stethoscope. I got some use out of it for the 1 month that I was enrolled in Uni. Had no trouble with it for cardiac auscultation, when it came to respiratory auscultation I could not hear a thing - I wasn't alone in this either. I have heard it before, it's not because the stethoscope was cheap, it is how you use it.

I realise there are many discussions here that are relevant to my query, although, I would prefer to avoid paying the additional costs of overseas postage and handling if I can help it :).

[bluesky, BSN, RN]

My dh bought me a fancy shmancy Littman Master Cardiology that just has one side before entering school. BIG MISTAKE! You definitely need a bell for anything peds and murmurs and bruits in adults.

[leprecaun]

Probably by the time you read this post you will have purchased a scope or given up !

Look basically you are new to practice and like all activities, when you are beginning them you have problems, from learning to ride a bike to swimming it all takes practice, the equipment isnt the problem it is the user. When i began my nursing career over 30years ago we had very basic scopes if any and we relied on palpation for blood pressure and abdominal and chest ausculation to determine problems. As i progressed and so did technology, new modern equipment arrived on the scene, today I work in a very specialised area and although my technological friends are all around me often i use my good old basic practice that has served me well and check it up as necessary with either a peice of equipment or another nurse to ensure what i have observed is indeed correct.

Give yourself time, listening through stethscopes to air entry and heart sounds is not something to be mastered in first year clinical practice.

Hang in there and dont always believe what the equipment tells you, listen to the patient and your instinct.

[road runner2003]

3 weeks since purchase. True - more than once I have been told - - - it's your use of the scope- not the stethoscope ! Sheer frustration when all you want to do is get tasks spot on the 1st time. Thank-you for your insight. :)

[nyapa, RN]

I have one that cost $35 from the local uni bookshop. Hey, yeah, its cheap, but hey, yeah, it works! . It has three interchangeable diaphragms and two bells. There are even a choice of ear pieces. The brand is "Prestige Medical" and Im very happy with it.

Jacqui