Back to basics: stepping into aesthetics and continuing professional development

Medical aesthetics is a rapidly growing sector. According research (Globe Newswire, 2019), over the past few decades, the demand for treatments is estimated to have increased threefold. There has been a specific surge in the total number of non-surgical procedures, such as wrinkle-relaxing injections and dermal fillers. This trend is likely to continue due to the advantages of these procedures in the context of an ageing population and cost-effectiveness compared to surgery, such as reduced blood loss, low risk of infection and minimal downtime. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in the past 15 years, the total number of procedures employing soft tissue fillers has increased by approximately 312%. In the same period, the use of wrinkle-relaxing injections increased by a staggering 809% (Globe Newswire, 2019).

Nurses often choose their profession as a career path as they have a desire to make a difference, care for others, use their clinical skills and spend quality time interacting with people. However, for most nurses, it can be challenging to experience job satisfaction and fulfilment due to the complex competing demands of some traditional nursing roles, such as time pressures and financial constraints. The NMC recently asked nurses who left the register in 2018 (over a six-month period) for the reasons that they left. The data showed that, although most leaving were retiring, almost a third (1050 out of 3504 respondents) reported their reason for leaving was due to too much pressure leading to stress and/or poor mental health (NMC, 2019).