BECOMING AN AESTHETIC NURSE
Believe it or not, one of the questions I get asked most often is, “how I became an aesthetic nurse” or “what path I took to get where I am today”. So I decided to write a short blog post and share with all of you my journey into the field of aesthetics. I truly hope this blog post helps all of you who have reached out or just anyone looking into the field of aesthetics.
When I think back as to what sparked my interest into the world of medicine, the first thing that comes to mind is my brother being hospitalized. He was about 8 years old and was hospitalized due to a ruptured appendix. At the time, I was about 10 years old and I remember feeling scared and helpless. One of the nurses named “Beverly” took such good care of my brother and I’ll never forget it. I remember thinking, “when I grow up I want to be a nurse like Beverly”. So here I am, now a Registered Nurse, but not exactly like Beverly, because she was a Pediatric Registered Nurse and Im an Aesthetic Registered Nurse. The beauty of nursing is there really are so many different specialties to dive into. As a side note, while I was in nursing school, during my pediatric rotation, I bumped into Beverly and shared my story with her. Even though there was so much more that drove me to nursing, she truly was the first to spark my interest.
Nursing school was a total of 4 years, two years of general education courses and two years of nursing courses. When I graduated I received my ADN (Associates in Nursing) and was eligible to take the NCLEX exam. I took the NCLEX, passed and received my license as a Registered Nurse (RN). After that, I worked in a hospital on a medical surgical floor, for about two years. While working in the hospital, I was also working on obtaining my Bachelors Degree in Nursing (BSN). From start to finish it took me about 6 years to complete everything, ADN, RN to BSN. That seems long, but it did go quickly.
Ive been in Aesthetics for about 12 years now. When I started, it wasn’t near as popular as it is now. We didn’t have as many courses and training available. Now the aesthetic industry is booming and defiantly far more competitive. That should not discourage you, but rather, it should only encourage you to be better at what you do. My early years in aesthetics I was fortunate enough to have received my training through the doctors office and medical spa in which I worked at the time. They were usually small in-office trainings set up by the laser or injectable companies at the time. I started out with lasers procedures and about 5 years in, I began injecting. It truly does take years of experience to feel confident or even consider yourself an expert in the field of aesthetics. I feel so fortunate and blessed to have been surrounded by so many amazing doctors and nurses who took me under their wing and showed me the way.
Something I can say with confidence is that I absolutely love what I do and it truly has and continues to bring me so much fulfillment. If there is any advice I can give to someone who is starting out and wanting to go down the path of becoming an Aesthetic nurse is to have a plan. Going to school and getting your degree won’t immediately set you up for a job as there are many steps after that. With the increased level of competition, its smart to network and find someone (doctor or nurse) that would be willing to take you under their wing and give you as much experience as possible. In addition to the real world experience, it would be wise to invest in your career and take courses in the field of aesthetics. Paletteresources.com is a great place to start and comes highly recommended. They offer many courses from beginners to advanced. Once you have some courses under your belt, it’s time to network and reach out to different practices. This may seem a bit overwhelming, but don’t get discouraged! Anything that requires a lot of work, dedication and time is worth the effort! Remember always be open minded and never stop learning. I still today am very active in attending advanced and master courses in aesthetics.