A medical esthetics nurse is a nurse that specializes in helping patients improve their appearance. They might work in a variety of different areas of medicine, but most often they are associated with plastic surgery or dermatology. In addition to being know as medical esthetics nurses, this type of nurse could also go by the title of medical aesthetics nurse or cosmetic nurse.
Job Responsibilities
Medical esthetics nurses will help patients through a cosmetic procedure. They can provide assistance to patients when they are in both the pre-operative and the post-operative phase of a procedure. This type of nurse might also be present during the procedure itself to provide assistance to the doctor. This type of work is good for a nurse who enjoys being in the operating room and helping patients overcome difficult or scarring life changes or accidents. It is estimated that growth in this area of nursing will be strong over the next few years, so this is a lucrative area of nursing for current nursing students to specialize in.
Education and Preparation of Esthetics Nurses
The training that a nursing student will go through to be an esthetics nurse will include general training in nursing, but it will likely feature a more heavy concentration of anatomy courses focusing on the skin. In some ways, esthetic nurses will study topics similar to what a cosmetician might study. For example, a nurse focusing on aesthetic medicine will probably need to learn about skin care and how various chemical peels will interact with the skin. They will need to understand the process of how skin ages and learn how procedures such as botox injections are performed.
Like any nurse, an esthetics nurse will need to acquire a nursing license. The requirements for becoming licensed as a nurse vary between different states. However, every state requires that nurse candidates pass an exam. A Registered Nurse (RN) exam (please see: How Should I Prepare for My Nursing Board Exam?) will usually have a practical component during which the nurse must exhibit skills in addition to book knowledge.
Nursing students interested in esthetic medicine might want to acquire a certification to specialize in this type of nursing. There are certificates offered in some states that are unique to plastic surgical nursing or cosmetic nursing. These certificates give nurses a distinct advantage when applying for jobs within their specialty.
Finding a Job
Esthetics nurses work for some types of institutions where other kinds of nurses are not found. For example, a medical esthetics nurse might find work at a medical spa. It’s also possible that this type of nurse could open up his or her own private practice. That being said, this type of nurse is also sometimes employed in a traditional nursing environment such as a hospital or doctor’s office.
A medical esthetics nurse is able to make enormous differences in patients’ lives by helping patients feel comfortable with their appearances.
