We bet all of you must have heard that popular story called ‘The Lady With The Lamp’? If yes, then chances are you must already know who Florence Nightingale is and how immense is her contribution in the field of healthcare and nursing.
Even today, her legacy is apparent. However, as a profession, nursing has evolved. It’s become much more diverse than what it used to be in the 1850s. Nowadays, there isn’t only a general nurse that does everything in a hospital – there’s a special Cardiac Nurse, Geriatric Nurse, and what not?!
Moreover, in many parts of the world, nursing has become a medical profession that requires a proper educational degree! Yet, if there’s one typical nursing profession that’s very much in demand, that’s arguably Aesthetic or Cosmetic Nursing – a form of Registered Nursing. And stats show that the demand for such Registered Nursing professions will be growing by a dashing 16% by 2024!
Fascinating, right? So, if you’ve been wanting to become one lately, here’s a roadmap to help you. But first, let’s break some eggs about an Aesthetic Nurse:
What is an Aesthetic Nurse?
Let’s face it – we’ve all, at least once, have gotten a tattoo that we regretted. So much so that we had to visit the hospital and get it removed. Well, maybe you didn’t notice then, but the nurse who actually removed that black blob of disappointment off your arm is what they call an Aesthetic or a Cosmetic Nurse.
Needless to say, they are registered medical professionals who provide a good range of dermatologic services like photo facials, micro-needling, dermabrasion, and non-surgical body contouring. In fact, not just hospitals;
Aesthetic Nurses also work in medical spas affiliated with cosmetic surgery practices. You can go to them for Botox injections.
. So yes, you figured it right – an Aesthetic Nurse is a nurse who deals with the skin and boosts their patient’s self-esteem by making them look amazing.
What are the roles and duties of an Aesthetic Nurse?
Aesthetic or Cosmetic Nurses are incredibly adept medical professionals. Their roles and duties include :
- Consulting, interviewing, and medical screening the patients
- Carefully examining the patient’s skin
- Performing pre-operative and post-operative care
- Assisting the physician in surgeries
- Managing multiple non-surgical dermatological procedures like performing chemical peels, removing tattoos, laser hair removal, etc.
Now, let’s delve into the steps to become an Aesthetic Nurse:
Step 1: Get your Registered Nurse (RN) degree
Now that you’ve finally made up your mind, here’s the first thing you must do in order to become an Aesthetic Nurse – earn a Registered Nurse (RN) degree! But the question is, how can you do so? Well, you have two options – either get a two-year associate’s degree in nursing (ADN) or a four-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. However, earning these degrees is not as easy as it sounds. But well, we are sure the CPD Institute will be of great help for those aspiring. So what are you waiting for? Check out their website!
Step 2: Sit for NCLEX-RN
Yayy, you’ve finally got your Registered Nurse degree! But hold your horses, this isn’t all the learning that your profession-to-be requires. You will need a proper license to be able to work in one or more states of the country. So, what you need to do is sit for NCLEX-RN to finally earn the much-anticipated Aesthetic Nurse license.
Step 3: Seek experience in the relevant field
Now that you have a license in hand, don’t go all gaga and start calling yourself an Aesthetic Nurse. Without appropriate training and experience, you are an RN only in papers. So go ahead and gain a minimum of 2 years of experience.
Step 4: Finally, get a credential for Certified Nurse
We promise this is the last thing you have to ace! After you’re done gaining experience, the next thing you have to do is to get a credential for Certified Nurse from PSNCB. For this, you have to ace the PSNCB exams. That’s it!
Over to you…
Aesthetic Nurses are Registered Nurses with amazing scope and ever-increasing industry demand. But, it isn’t easy to understand how to become one. Here, we cited 4 steps to become an Aesthetic Nurse. This guide is a goldmine for all nursing aspirants.
