Which stethoscope is best for nursing school?

animal1993 · Nov 27, 2008

Are you by any chance starting at Hondros (West Chester) on Jan. 12th? I am starting the LPN program there and have been looking for any fellow classmates!

20mom10 · Nov 27, 2008

I would not skimp, I have a drg pure tone cardiology lite (titanium head) and I love it. I had to borrow a classmates scope once and all I could hear was the conversations going on around me, that never happens with the DRG. Allheart has great prices and a big selection.

Good luck!

rrosebr · Nov 28, 2008

anything litman

*HaNNaH* · Nov 29, 2008

I love my Littman Classic II SE.. i was around $62 from allheart.com

tothepointeLVN, LVN · Dec 2, 2008

I splurged and got a cardio 3. I love it. Everything is so much clearer compared to the sprague we were issued. Classmates were telling me I didn't need one that fancy until they tried it and realized the advantage it gave me. I also have a prestige that I paid about $20 which is ok.

mcknis · Dec 3, 2008

I will be honest, when i first started, i did pay a little bit of money for a littmann cardiology III that cost me $140. I was glad that I paid the extra money for it during going through school so I had something good to learn with. I also used an ADC Adscope 603 ($29 with Galls.com) during work as a nursing assistant and never saw much of a difference with the sound quality. When that stethoscope showed some signs of wearing and rusting I replaced it with a Littman Select ($30 on ebay; retail $39-45), which I am still using now as an RN. It is lightweight compared to my cardiology scope which sits in my bedroom as a backup, but is still of high quality. I work with nurses who use $5 dual-head scopes (which i used once before and will only use as a last resort), as well as those who use $1000 scopes specialized for hearing impaired. To each his own, but only a few work for me.

shrimpchips, LPN · Dec 9, 2008

Hi,
I am about 7 weeks away from being officially a nursing student :-) My program starts on January 12, 2009.
We had an orientation last week, and were told to get a stethoscope, and that "you can get a good one for 20 or 30 $".... but I feel completely overwhelmed with this decision. There's stethoscopes out there ranging from 5 to 200$ and I have no idea what to look for....
On allheart I saw a "light weight" litmann for about $40 - are those good? what's the difference between light-weight and not light weight? what is a sprague? Do you need the dual head?
I don't want to get a bad one, because I do struggle with BP's a little bit.... so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks :)

Don't buy the lightweight. It's acoustical quality is rated 5/10 and when I was shopping for stethoscopes they told me to stay away. I loved the fact that it came in lavender (it's my favorite color...) but I was told not to skimp on a stethoscope and I'm also picky and didn't like the way the bell/diaphragm was shaped :chuckle

So then I went up and decided to buy a Littman Classic II S.E. It has an acoustical rating of 7/10 (and I think the Master Classic is an 8/10) and I'm very happy with my choice. I can hear very well with it! I got mine from www.reddingmedical.com - it's $62.99 but with tax + s&h it ended up being $73.95, which is ~$15-$20 cheaper than what I would have paid in a store (and it was cheaper than www.allheart.com!) Their delivery was prompt and I got a free ID tag with my purchase :yeah: - and make sure you put that tag to use! I've heard horror stories about students leaving their Littmans "unsupervised" and then they end up growing legs and disappearing. Don't let that happen to you! :no:

Basically, you don't need a super expensive stethoscope. yes, my $73.95 Littman was kind of expensive, but I know it will last me throughout nursing school and Littmans come with warranties - the Classic II S.E. has a 3-year warranty! If you *want* to splurge and get something better like a Master Classic II ($82.99 not including tax + s&h), then go for it, but in my experience the Classic II S.E. will suffice. You can always get a nicer more expensive one down the road - maybe for a graduation gift or something :)

mommyofnini · Dec 10, 2008

Last year my hubby bought me the Littman Cardiology Master...it was GREAT!!!! It cost a lot of $$ at the store and one of the doctors at the hospital I was training at for clinicals took it. (I am 99% sure it was a doctor because she was the only one in the room and she was the olny one who saw me put it into my bacpack.)

Anyways, I went to KILA.COM and got the same thing (or what feels and sounds like the same thing) ... single head cardio quality stethescope for $28. I got the tag to go with it and paid for shipping ($11.00) so the total came out to $41.

I haven't used it yet as I graduated in October and will hopefully start my job in January. I just took my nclex today and I am pretty sure I passed. (hopefully)

Anyways, good luck with the stethescope and your nursing school career.

lifesacomedy · Dec 10, 2008

Littman Classic SE II Steth...$~65 from allheart.com (and have your name put on it)

one of less quality won't be worth the money

one of higher quality might grow legs

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 11, 2008

I used a Littman Select for the first year and a half--it's a pretty good scope.

The only thing I do not like about the Littman Select is the tunable diaphragm, so I just got a GRX CD-27 to finish off NS with. It does sound a lot better than that Littman, but that doesn't mean the Littman sucked in any way.

loislane23 · Oct 20, 2012

My husband is an EMT and just got me the Littman Master Classic II and I love it. He had tried to teach me with just the basic stehoscopes he uses at work and I was having such a difficult time finding the heart sounds because it picked up so much surrounding noise. But when I tried my new one I could hear every sound so clear and loud comparitively. I start my program in January and cannot wait!