What Stethoscope Should I Get?

Determining the best stethoscope for your situation will depend on the type of work that you perform on a regular basis. When buying a stethoscope ask yourself, do you treat pediatric patients, work mostly with adults or specialize in a field such as cardiology?

Depending on your work, there are a variety of stethoscopes that are designed to deal with each type of situation. Cardiology stethoscopes, for example, are designed to deal with a wide range of heart sounds and a good one will have strong oscillation properties that will minimize sound interference. In fact, in many cases nurses and doctors choose cardiology stethoscopes because of their sound quality and frequency range.

If you work in an ambulance or in a loud environment where there are a lot of noisy distractions, you may prefer to choose an electronic stethoscope capable of amplifying sounds it receives. These stethoscopes are also great for medical professionals dealing with hearing difficulties.

Nursing students or those who work in quieter environments may opt for a less expensive stethoscope that has decent sound oscillation but may be made with heavier, less durable materials. Each stethoscope that is available on the market has its own pros and cons depending on its use case, so make sure you determine what you’ll be using it for before making the purchase.

There are various specialized stethoscopes available for purchase such as:

Remember to keep these things in mind when choosing a stethoscope.

What type of environment will you be working in?

Will you be working in a quite setting, the emergency room, ambulatory care or pediatrics? Understanding your environment will have a huge impact on determining the stethoscope that will best work for you.

If you work in a loud environment than an electronic stethoscope may improve your ability to listen to specific sounds, however if you work in a doctor’s office you may want to go with a non-electronic stethoscope that’s lighter and less expensive.

What type of patients will you be caring for?

Are you typically dealing with infants and children, adults or patients suffering from heart problems? Some stethoscopes are designed to listen better to certain frequencies better than others. For example, if you’re dealing with children and infants rather than a pediatric stethoscope may be better than one for an adult and vice versa.

If you need to listen to really low-frequency sounds than maybe you should purchase a dual-headed stethoscope with a bell over a single-headed one with just a diaphragm. The best stethoscope will be the one that works best for helping you determine your patient’s medical condition.

Take Care of Your Stethoscope

Once you choose a good stethoscope, you’ll want to make sure you keep it clean and safe in order to prolong its life and save you money. Purchasing a decent stethoscope cover, name tag and cleaning supplies can help extend the life of your stethoscope. Some brands also sell replacement/interchangeable parts that cost far less than buying a new stethoscope. For instance, some stethoscopes have replaceable bells, diaphragms and ear tips that can easily be swapped out if the old ones go bad.

This is a very cost-effective way to maintain an otherwise good stethoscope. When purchasing cleaning supplies make sure they are non-invasive and will not harm the stethoscopes materials (such as the line/tubing) or de-color it as you’ll want to maintain both its appearance and overall lifespan. Lastly, rather than throwing out your old stethoscope when you purchase a new one you may be able to sell it for a decent price by keeping your stethoscope in good condition working condition, especially if it’s still worth a lot new when you sell it.

You can replace or remove the ear-tips, clean (sanitize) the tubing, diaphragm and metal components, and sell it either online or to a coworker/student that wants a good stethoscope, but can’t afford to, or doesn’t want to pay for a brand new one.

Items to help you prolong the life of your stethoscope

Here are some accessories you can purchase with your stethoscope to prolong your stethoscopes life, improve its performance/effectiveness, keep it clean and ensure it doesn’t get lost.

Accessories to consider: