Which stethoscope should I buy as a Nursing student?

[NursingStoodent]

So I was browsing on amazon and came across a bunch of stethoscopes between $5-$10 so i bought two different brands. I got those in the mail yesterday and i hate them! They are cheaply made but then again i understand you get what u pay for. I bought them because each had rave reviews from nursing students so i guess a lot of students are using those for nursing school. My problem with them is the moment i put them on, my ears hurt like hell. I cant leave those on for more than 10 seconds without wanting to cry. I am thinking of keeping these for backup and buying a well made stethoscope for regular use. My first question before i splurge is will the better or more expensive stethoscopes not hurt my ears? Second question is which stethoscope is worth buying since i will be a nursing student come January? Third question is should I even buy another scope or just use the ones i already bought? Do all steths hurt in the ears? And how can i keep my ears from hurting if i use the ones i now own? Please help pick a steth! Thanks in advance.

[Pink Magnolia, BSN, RN]

I like my Littmann classic se.

[Kuriin, BSN, RN]

I bought a Cardiology III after using a Classic Littman II (hand-me down) and having difficulty hearing sounds. Absolutely love it and recommend it if you can afford it. If you have Amazon Prime, it's much cheaper than if you wouldn't.

[Fire Bird]

I'd say get a cheaper littman. I used a cheap non-littman brand through nursing school. I couldn't really hear well with it, so learning breath sounds was a struggle until I got my littmann after i graduated.

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

I simply don't understand the love affair with littman. I do not like the tunable diaphragms.

I used a cheap Sprague through school. My opinion is that if you can't hear the basics with something like that (and basic is all you need to hear in school) then you probably won't hear much with a more expensive set of ears.

[wannabecnl]

Another option is to see if you can get replacement ear tips or if they came with the stethoscopes. I had the opposite problem: my ear tips were so mushy that they would close up inside my ears! I was in despair over paying so much for my Littmann, but then I discovered a set of hard ear tips in the box. Swapped them out and life is grand. Maybe you can get softer ones to swap out--worth a try for probably not a lot of money.

[EaglesWings21, ASN, RN]

I like Prestige. It is a little cheaper than the Littman and works just as well.

[Mandy0728]

My boyfriend was going to get me the Littmann cardiology 3 steth for nursing school, but I found out that new nursing students get a free littmann steth as a gift from alumni at my school, so I can't argue with that! It's probably the cheapest one, but I heard all littmanns are awesome!

[cmurra6745, ADN]

i have a "black edition" littman classic se2 works wonderfully and can hear everything crystal clear... was 70$ new

[PCTerrific]

I love my littman cardiology 3. love it. i have never had anyone borrow it for longer than 2 mins in my sight or take it or lose it-- i feel like that is kind of a strange thing to have happen. my thought was this: i want to buy 1 stethoscope, not a cheap one and then a nice one later. Also, as a student i want to make sure i can hear things. Sure, a pro knows how to listen to a cheap scope, but a student with untrained ears needs all the help they can get. Never regretted it, and expect at least 5 years of use, 5 years for $150 on sale and actually hearing things? worth it. There are better places to cut corners.

[elegant.lil.lady]

Honestly, I'd get the Littman Cardiology steth. It's expensive, but totally worth it. I can't hear anything with the other cheapo brands. Even my classmates have said they wasted money on cheaper ones at the beginning of nursing school and it's worth it to just start off with the Littman cardiology stethoscope.

[Naeema_rnhopeful]

I start in January as well..and I went back and forward about what type to get. My school wants us to get a midgrade model, so I went with the Littmann Classic II.

[SarahB0703]

The best stethoscope you will ever buy is a Littmann. I just bought my 2nd one & they make a world of difference compared to the cheapo no name ones. I could barely hear out of those when I was in MA school! I paid $80 for my Littmann Classic II & being able to hear clearly is well worth the extra money. :)