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Doctors and nurses will never be complete without having one. If you are planning to buy the best stethoscope for nurses (or even for doctors & EMTs) then our guide will help you out to understand pros and cons of few handpicked brands. There are many superb stethoscopes available out there but one must understand that a stethoscope that is good for one nurse might be useless to another; only because we all work in different units under different environmental conditions. So it is advisable that you should acquire as much as information on more than one stethoscope and see which fits better for your needs.
List of 5 Best Stethoscope Reviews
1. Review of Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope
A stethoscope that mostly loved by cardiologist (as its name suggest) and recommended by many physicians.
If you are on budget for stethoscope and looking for the best stethoscope with extremely good features then this is what you need to buy. It provides top-notch acoustic quality, tune-able diaphragm, and can be used in pediatrics as well as in adult patients also.
It is a sturdy, durable and versatile stethoscope that comes with quality features. It has two diaphragms & small diaphragm can be removed easily to have open bell which helps to listen to sounds with lower frequencies. Though it is popular among the cardiologist, senior physicians and paediatricians, it is also make a good choice for nursing. Tunable diaphragm is an unique technology of 3M Littmann that allows Littmann Cardiology III to switch between diaphragm & bell by giving slight pressure on chest piece. This feature allows easy and quick auscultation and avoids hustle of turning over the chest piece to listen different frequency sounds.
It approx. weighs 180gm and about 27 inches long with 43mm diaphragm. It comes with other Littmann’s feature like soft sealing ear piece, non-chill rim. But great quality comes big great value. It is costlier stethoscope among all the other stethoscopes & available for approx. $150 on Amazon.
Things We Liked
- Provides quality to your money
- Sturdy, Durable & Versatile Stetho
- Dual lumen tube & Tunable Diphragm
- Only stethoscope with dual Sided Chest-piece
Things We Didn’t Like
- Not all people can able to afford it, especially students
2. Review Littmann Classic SE II Stethoscope
This is another best stethoscope among many other from 3M Littmann.
It provides great quality acoustic experience to its user. It comes with comfortable soft sealing earpieces, TUNABLE diaphragm, and is lightweight stethoscope. Sound quality is loud and clear.
It cost approximately $70 on Amazon. As compare to its quality features 70 bucks are worth paying. The most important thing about this stethoscope is that it got 1000’s of reviews from real users out of which more than 850 reviewers given 5 star ratings. These stats speak themselves about its quality.
Littmann Classic II SE is available in almost 17 colours. So you can likely able to get the colour you love.
This stethoscope have dual sided chest piece which comes with non-chill rim. Dual sided chest piece will allow you switch between the bell & diaphragm mode by applying a little pressure over the chest piece. This is one of the HIGHLY recommended stethoscopes for nurses. It is affordable and have insanely best features that nurses demands for.
3. Review of Littmann Master Classic Stethoscope
This is another stethoscope from Littmann which is almost close to the ‘Littmann Classic II SE’.
It is actually an up-gradation of classic II and that is why it is known as MASTER Classic.
It gives better quality, loudness and clarity in sound than Classic II SE. But it does not provide dual sided chest piece & weighs more than Classic II SE.
Its weight is approximately 160gm. It costlier than Classic II SE and do comes with all other features of Littmann, so if you do not require a steth with double sided chest piece then you can go for it.
4. Review of ADC ADSCOPE stainless stethoscope
A good stethoscope with few good features. Though does not fit in to the standards that Littmann have set; it is unique in its own way.
This stethoscope is a bit long as well as heavier than Littmann stethoscopes that we discussed above.
Most important thing is that it is a CHEAPER stethoscope. After Littmann’s stethoscope ADC stands for its quality in sound conduction and clarity.
It got a heavy chest-piece and has comfortable ear tips. Best thing about ADC stethoscopes is that they got LIFETIME WARRANTY which makes them to stand out in stethoscope selling field. ADC got more than 100 positive reviews with ratings of 5 stars.
5. Review of Omron Sprague Rappaport stethoscope
Don’t get carried away with demand of high quality stethoscope. Sometime it is better to have alternative stethoscope in hand in case you lose first one.
Omron Sprague Rappaport surprised us with its AMAZINGLY CHEAP PRICE.
With its low cost they have still able to provide sound which is loud enough and clear.
Though it is good for pocket, it is not a perfect stethoscope for auscultation as it has double tube which creates artefacts. During auscultation two tube rubs together and creates some unwanted noise.
It can be used to measure blood pressure instead of auscultation. It is useful to have one as a backup stethoscope. It is a long stethoscope while diaphragm is made up of not so good quality material.
How To Find the Best Stethoscope – The Definitive Stethoscope Reviews
Stethoscope is the most important tool in nurse’s life.
Doctors and nurses will never be complete without having one. If you are planning to buy the best stethoscope for nurses (or even for doctors & EMTs) then our guide will help you out to understand pros and cons of few handpicked brands.
We have completed the mammoth task for you & compiled the list of best stethoscope for nurses according to customer’s reviews from Amazon.com and many other online stores. Not only we came up with the list but we have reviewed each stethoscope in detail to ease your buying process.
We all know that finding a right stethoscope is a daunting process for each of us; because every single stethoscope brand claims that they provides possibly best stethoscope in market.
There are many superb stethoscopes available out there but one must understand that a stethoscope that is good for one nurse might be useless to another; only because we all work in different units under different environmental conditions. So it is advisable that you should acquire as much as information on more than one stethoscope and see which fits better for your needs.
Before you start reading detailed reviews; do not forget to check out following chart that compares best stethoscope according to their feedback from its users.
While doing our research we found that most of the doctors, nurses and medical students prefer using LITTMANN’s brand. It is not surprising if we review more of the Littmann’s stethoscope as most of the votes goes to Littmann especially to the Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope and Littmann Classic II SE.
What it makes to a best stethoscope?
First of all it should not be heavy so it will become easy to carry over shoulder.
- Length Of Tube
- Quality of Diaphragm
- Non-Chill Rim
- Affordability & Great Value for Price
Length of tube matters.
It should not be short or too long. Perfect length of tube helps to perform better auscultation of patient. Approximately 27 to 30″ tube length is ideal.
Diaphragms should be made up of good quality material which provides flexibility. – It is better if stethoscope for adult have approx. 35mm diaphragm and a stethoscope for paediatric have approx 25 mm of diameter while most of cardiologist prefers 45mm of diaphragm.
Cold rim of bell causes discomfort to patient, so it must have non-chill rim.
Affordable
Most important feature of best stethoscope is that it should be affordable to our pockets & at the same time it should provide good quality.
Final Conclusion
After going through pros and cons of many stethoscope we personally feels that Littmann Classic II SE beats the other competition. It is affordable, sturdy & a quality stethoscope from Littmann brand.
We can say that Littmann Classic II SE is a perfect stethoscope for every nurse, healthcare and medical student. It is a must have stethoscope. Apart from this ‘Littmann Cardiology III’ is actually a top-notch product but it may not fit to pockets of many. But if you have enough money and want a great stethoscope that will help you to listen subtle sounds then you must go for Littmann Cardiology III.
We recommend that you should either buy a Littmann Classic II SE or Littmann Cardiology III. It is widely used stethoscope across the globe.
