A second hand you can count a pulse on

#1 · Casio F91W-1 Digital Sport Watch

The disposable classic, and genuinely useful on a floor: the stopwatch turns rate counting and drip timing into a button press, the 12/24-hour toggle covers military-time charting, and the micro light makes it readable in a dark room without hunting for a penlight. It costs so little that losing it or drowning it is an inconvenience rather than an event. The catch is that the listing claims only generic water resistance with no depth rating, and the LCD is small.

✓ Built-in stopwatch removes the arithmetic from timed counts
✗ Casio states only 'water resistant' with no depth rating - treat it as splash-safe, not sink-safe

#2 · Casio MDV106 Duro 200M Dive Watch

This is the one you buy after you have already killed a watch. Casio rates it to 200 m, which puts gel, scrubbing and a full sink comfortably inside its design envelope, and the black dial with luminous markers and a sweep second hand reads cleanly for pulse counts. The honest tradeoff is bulk: a stainless case on a resin band with a rotating bezel is a chunky thing that will catch on gown sleeves and glove cuffs, and it is the most expensive watch here.

✓ 200 m (660 ft) water resistance - the widest margin on this list for repeated hand hygiene
✗ Physically large and heavy compared with a purpose-built scrub watch - it snags on sleeves

#3 · Casio LRW200H Analog Sport Watch

The cheapest honest analog on this list: a real sweep second hand, a date window, a mineral crystal and a 100m water rating in a 33mm resin case, for well under the price of a purpose-built scrub watch. The molded resin band shrugs off alcohol gel and rinses clean, and there is nothing on it to trap grime. What you give up is the printed 24-hour track - the dial carries small 24-hour indices rather than the full inner numerals a Speidel gives you.

✓ 100 m water resistance at a budget price, which comfortably covers sinks and hand hygiene
✗ Small 24-hour indices only, not the printed inner 24-hour numerals used for military-time charting

#4 · Speidel Original Scrub Watch

The default nurse watch, and it earns the spot on dial logic alone: a highly visible red second hand for pulse counting, 24-hour numerals printed inside the 12-hour track for military-time charting, and luminous hour and minute hands for a dim hallway. Speidel rates the 38mm case to 50m and puts it on a soft silicone band, so foaming in and wiping down between rooms costs you nothing. The tradeoff is that it is a plain three-hand quartz watch with no timer, no backlight and no notifications.

✓ Red sweep second hand makes a 15-second pulse count a glance rather than a squint
✗ No stopwatch, timer or backlight - the luminous hands need a light source to charge

#5 · Speidel Scrub Petite Watch

Identical dial thinking in a 28mm stainless case - the same red second hand, the same 12- and 24-hour markers, the same luminous hands, just 10mm smaller across. That difference is the whole point on a thin wrist, where a 38mm case rotates under the band and snags going into gloves. Read it as a fit variant, not a downgrade, and skip it if you already find small dials hard to read in dim light.

✓ 28mm case sits flat on a small wrist instead of sliding around under the band
✗ Smaller numerals are genuinely harder to read at arm's length or in poor hallway light

#6 · Prestige Medical Stethoscope Watch

The bare-wrist answer for units that enforce bare-below-the-elbow: this one clips onto stethoscope tubing rather than sitting on your wrist, so it never contacts a patient and never complicates a hand-hygiene audit. The dial is built for the job - a full 24-hour face with a marked 15-second quadrant and a step second hand, which is exactly what a rate count wants. The compromise is ergonomic: reading a watch hanging off your stethoscope means lifting and orienting it every single time.

✓ Back clip attaches to most stethoscope tubing, keeping wrists and forearms bare
✗ You have to lift and turn it to read it, which gets old if you check the time constantly