Hi everyone! If you’re new here, my full time job is actually a critical care registered nurse. As a critical care nurse, it is so essential that my assessment skills are on point and that means having the right tools. Majority of my patients have cardiac and respiratory problems so that means I have to listen closely to their heart and lung. Ultimately, this means that I need a reliable stethoscope in order to accurately and carefully assess my patients.
As a Medelita ambassador, I was sent the ERKA Precise stethoscope in pink to try since the only other stethoscopes I have are from Littman. Littman is probably the go-to stethoscope of healthcare professionals so that’s initially what I got and probably all I knew before finding out about ERKA. I felt like Littman did its job but I felt like I needed something more advanced and didn’t want to spend a fortune on.
B A C K G R O U N D
Medelita does not make this stethoscope but it is an authorized reseller of ERKA in the United States. ERKA actually goes all the way back to 1889 in Germany so they been doing this for awhile now aka they know what they are doing 🙂
F E A T U R E S & Q U A L I T Y
I work on a pretty crazy and hectic floor so I need a stethoscope to block out any background noise and to clearly hear lung and heart sounds. It has an open bell for high frequencies and dual membrane chest piece as well as a dual channel acoustic tubing. You’re probably thinking like “what the heck does all this high frequencies and dual chamber thing means?!” This simply means that you can basically hear every heart/lungs/abdomen sound very clearly with both the bell and diaphragm of the stethoscope. The dual membrane allows the most sensitive sounds to be heard with both low and high frequencies. In addition, I love that the ear tips are designed for comfort as well as stays in place to cancel out background noise.
Another feature that I originally did not even think about in a stethoscope is that it has a pore-free brass chest piece, meaning that it is more hygienic and less likely to transmit bacteria since it is more resistant to bacteria. I’m all about preventing infection and hygiene in the hospital, so this is an essential added bonus. Lastly, it is latex free and dermatologically safe so this will not harm yourself or the patient!
C O M P A R I S O N
This exact stethoscope can be compared to Littmann Cardiology IV and meant to precisely listen to cardiac and respiratory sounds. The price is $156 compared to $200 with Littman. I have the classic Littmann and not the cardiology so I can’t personally compare and can only point out key features and my honest opinion.
F I N A L T H O U G H T S
I absolutely love this stethoscope and would recommend it to anyone. It not only gets it technical job done with precise and clear sounds, it is always resistant to bacteria and comes with a two year warranty and zip up travel case. My only con is that I like to hang my stethoscope around my neck so I feel like the stethoscope does get pretty heavy. However, it is sturdy and high quality and if you put your stethoscope in your pocket, that should be fine.
Stethoscope here: https://www.medelita.com/stethoscope-erka-precise.html#page-title-wrapper
Use “BLACKFRIDAY30′ for 30% off sitewide this weekend 🙂
