BACN Specialist Aesthetic Nurse Standards, Competency Framework and Career Structure Project

The BACN has always placed enormous emphasis on its role within the world of aesthetics in terms of standards setting and the need to establish aesthetic nursing as a ‘specialist’ role. This emphasis can be evidenced by the 2013 publication of the Competency Framework for aesthetic nurses. This followed on from the original project undertaken by the RCN Aesthetic Forum, which contained a number of current BACN nurses. It was the first framework of its kind, and concentrated on:

The past 5 years have seen the debate about standards, competencies, regulation, supervision, assessment methodologies and the accreditation of training and prior learning. The BACN has contributed to this debate and in 2018 the BACN Board decided to take a step back and review its future role and priorities with regards to education and training. This review resulted in:

The ultimate objective of this activity is to establish aesthetic nursing as a ‘speciality’ and to underpin this with the appropriate building blocks, frameworks, competencies and career structure. We envisage this to be a 12-month project that will culminate in the publication of a Competency Framework for the Specialist Aesthetic Nurse, a Recommended Career Structure for the Aesthetic Nurse, and specialist Standards of Practice for the Aesthetic Nurse. We will seek to use the expertise and experience from the top aesthetic nurses in the UK, but also draw on a broader range of expertise across the sector.