What Stethoscope to use

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hello

[color=#483d8b] i am a new grad starting my very 1st rn position in the icu next week. our icu is actually divided into ccu, micu, and sicu and i'll be crosstrained in all 3. just wondering what the best stethoscope would be to use in this unit. i know littman's are great but don't know which one is the best. thanks!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.
hello

[color=#483d8b] i am a new grad starting my very 1st rn position in the icu next week. our icu is actually divided into ccu, micu, and sicu and i'll be crosstrained in all 3. just wondering what the best stethoscope would be to use in this unit. i know littman's are great but don't know which one is the best. thanks!

hello,

i think i have about every littman. and i just recently got their new electronic stethoscope model 4100 and i love it. if you like electronics and you want great sound quality plus you can record heart and lung sounds and have others listen to them, etc etc. it is a great investment. it is about $400. are you prone to losing stuff?

if not, go for it, and remember it is a deduction on your taxes.

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you just graduated and are starting brand new? Just get a higher end littman Card 3, master card.

I'd advise against an electronic for many reasons. The most important is that you don't want to be 'that guy'. The brand new grad who walks around the unit with a 400$ steth around his neck at all times like its a piece of jewlery.

Other reasons are they are unneccesary, and my steth pretty much gets hung on the end of a bed or laid on a counter for 95% of the night. I played with one of our cardiologist's and its was nice, but I would never get one. I couldn't throw it around or coil it up in my back pocket.

You can pick up a murmur on those little plastic isolation steths if you know what your listening for. You could give a garbage man that electronic and it wouldn't be any good to him. "The most important piece of equipment for auscultation is whats between your ears" - i think thats how it goes...

But yeah, I'd get a good laugh out of a new grad with one of those. Not that you should care what anybody else thinks...

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Specializes in Emergency Room, Perioperative.

Wow, I got an electronic and I'm a new grad. (It was a gift). Glad I won't be working with you girlfriend. I guess I'll really have to make sure I got my self-esteem up before I carry it around.

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Specializes in Critical care.

Not to sound pithy, but the best scope is the one you hear with the best.

In other words, my old Litt master cardio sounded about the same to ME as the $25 one from allheart.com.

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thanks for all the input everyone! i ended up going with a $40 littmann, the se ii i think. it's served me well so far, but i am only on my 2nd day of orientation on the floor so i've really only been using it for bp's. seems to me most of the nurses use those newer ultrascopes, i've never tried one so i don't know what they're like.

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I cannot live without my cardio III. Couldn't hear a thing with the master.

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