COMPLETE YOUR PREREQUISITES / APPLY TO NURSING SCHOOL
FINISH NURSING SCHOOL
TAKE AN INTRODUCTORY BOTOX/FILLERS CERTIFICATION
BUILD YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
APPLY APPLY APPLY FOR YOUR DREAM JOB!!!!
Becoming an aesthetics nurse is not a walk in the park. It takes many hours of studying anatomy, working through clinical rotations, and making connections. The first step I recommend is completing your prerequisite courses. These courses can be done at any university or local junior college (which I did). The classes can include chemistry, biology, anatomy, pathophysiology, and so on. It should take about 2 years to complete them. When you begin your final semester of pre reqs I suggest you begin applying to nursing school. I have friends who waited 2+ years of applying before getting accepted, so it’s smart to begin applying whilst still in school. There are many blogs written on how to better your chances of acceptance, but I suggest applying to many programs both in and outside of your area. I applied to 8+ and was accepted to 2!
But which programs should you apply to? There are a range of programs for becoming a nurse beginning with associates (ADN or ASN), BSN, direct entry MSN, etc. I had a Bachelor’s previous to my nursing career and I still chose to do an associates program. However, I don’t recommend this because you need a BSN at minimum to practice in most hospitals or medical facilities. I have since completed my BSN and am working on my NP. Nursing school is long, exhausting, and worth every moment. I made lifelong friends and absolutely love the variety of career paths to be found in nursing. Nursing school can take 15 months to 3+ years to complete depending on your credits and if you are enrolled part time or full time.
After graduating nursing school it’s time to start focusing on your aesthetic nursing goals! Start off by purchasing a great anatomy book and enrolling in an introductory Botox and Fillers certification course. I used “Aesthetic Facial Anatomy Essentials for Injections by Ali Pirayesh, Dario Bertossi, Izolda Heydenrych”. Stay away from EMPIRE Medical training courses. You will not learn much and have barely any hands on for training, and often they just take your money and run. Do your research! They cost about $1,200. If you find one much cheaper, beware. Every state has different courses. Local aesthetic clinics may even offer private training. With this certificate you can only go up from there. You could read anatomy books all day, but until you get hands on with the patients do you really begin to understand the art of aesthetics. Just like nursing school and clinicals. This beginners certification will open you up to the world of aesthetics and help you tremendously when applying for a job.
Social media, Tik Tok, Instagram, Youtube, etc. Even the nurses and doctors are doing it and guess what, you have to keep up if you want to make it. Build your aesthetics page and find your niche. Maybe you love before and after photos or maybe you really like comedy dance videos on Tik Tok. Whatever it may be, stick with it and get really good at it. Having a great social media presence will help you land that dream job. Why? Because have you ever booked a photographer without seeing what they can do? I didn’t think so.. Same goes for aesthetics. No one is going to let you touch their face unless you can convince them that you know what you are doing.
Lastly, land that dream job. Aesthetics, just like nursing school, is very competitive. There are a lot of nurses that would like to move into the aesthetics world and they are bringing a colorful background of years of hospital experience; can you outshine them? Maybe not, but with a certification already completed and a great social media presence you can bring a lot to the table. I hope that helps with your journey and planning and I look forward to more posts in the future!
xoxo ,
Lovely By Lexi
