So, you're not actually a Nurse anymore?

What do we define as a typical nurse? Someone who selflessly works 13 hours straight, day or night, caring for those unwell? Someone who leaves their family on Christmas day to look after the relatives of others? Someone with the skills to hold their bladder for a solid 12 hours and survive on a couple of chocolates? Then I’m not your typical nurse, anymore. I have done all of these things, I’ve worked night shifts, weekends, bank holidays, Christmas and Easter holidays since I started university at the age of 18. My nursing pals and I held a bit of a reputation for going wild on our student nights out, because quite frankly, we didn’t have that many of them. Freshers’ week for us was Monday – Friday lectures. Since then, I continued working long shift patterns, moving from days to nights, back to days up until I moved into clinical education 3 years ago. I appreciate that all sounds quite negative, but I wouldn’t change my personal experience for the world, I have met some of the most incredibly resilient children, families and friends along the way, learnt so much about the medical world and had tonnes of fun in the process.

I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2011 with a Diploma in Children’s Nursing, from then I moved back to my hometown and began an 18-month paediatric rotational nursing post, which allowed me to experience an array of specialities from Medical Assessment, Orthopaedic Surgery and Paediatric Intensive Care. During this period, I went back to Hallam to top up my diploma, to a degree. A pretty tough 12 months as a newly qualified nurse, travelling back and forth and studying during my days off. However, I somehow found myself with a better work/life balance than I ever had, I must have partied more in those 12 months than I did during my 3 years at uni. I was 22 and full of energy at the time - I had clearly mastered how to burn the candle at both ends!

Once I completed my rotational post, I made the move up North to Manchester and started working at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. 12 months spent on a Medical tertiary ward, looking after children across a number of specialities from cardiology, immunology, respiratory and endocrinology before taking the plunge into Paeds A&E. I loved my time here, it was busy and scary, but I learnt so much from the teams around me and found the entire experience fascinating, if not exhausting! I remember it was here that I first started thinking about aesthetics.

Fast forward three years since arriving in Manchester, and I found myself in sunny Abu Dhabi. I had been desperate to travel and so began my year long middle eastern experience. I was working as a Paediatric Clinical Case Manager, facilitating patient care by assessing children’s needs and evaluating treatment options. It was a whole different world and such an eye-opening experience, but surprisingly I missed ‘typical nursing’ and 12 months later, with a Commission for Case Manager certification in the bag, I knew I was ready for home… or London maybe!?

I spent 2016 – 2020 in London, firstly working as a Clinical Nurse Educator in a world-renowned cardiothoracic hospital, before moving into the private sector. During this time, I completed my Nursing Mentorship and European Paediatric Advanced Life Support (EPALS) both of which I still hold today.

It wasn’t until summer 2019, I finally decided to make the move into Aesthetics. I had been contemplating this for years, but had never fully considered it as a career and what better place to gain my certification, than in London. By this point I had been a qualified nurse for 8 years, but I had never injected a face before. My foundation course consisted of 3.5 hours theory and an afternoon of practical training, from that point, I was officially certified. Personally, I didn’t feel this prepared me enough and I wasn’t ready to start injecting without a mentor by my side. I knew if I was really going to consider this as a full-time career, I needed to broaden my knowledge and further develop my confidence within aesthetics – and so in September 2019 I began the Level 7 Certificate in Injectables for Aesthetic Medicine. A post-graduate certification only available to those who already hold a medical undergraduate degree, such as Doctors, Nurses and Dentists. This is an OfQual regulated, Masters equivalent qualification, considered Gold Standard for practitioners working within Medical Aesthetics.

Over a period of 12 months, through both theoretical and practical training, this course provided me with a postgraduate level of understanding in a number of key areas within non-surgical aesthetics, including facial anatomy, skin physiology, and dermatological indications/contraindications of treatment. I learnt how to undertake an effective consultation with patients including a systematic facial assessment, gained a deeper understanding of injection techniques and developed my competence in complications management.

I developed an academic portfolio comprising a 24,000-word essay, a critical appraisal, and case studies, as well as a practical portfolio, containing a record of injectable procedures I carried out on live models during mentoring sessions with expert supervision, all rounded off with a nerve-racking 3.5-hour long OSCE exam.

I continued this training, alongside my job as Clinical Nurse Educator until February 2020, when I finally decided my time in London was up. I made plans to put my hard work to good use, and set up my aesthetics business back in the Midlands. Unfortunately, this was very short-lived, and by March 2020 we were facing our first Covid-19 lockdown. It was devastating, I was incredibly motivated and had so many plans for Aesthetics Nurse Lucy, but now wasn’t the time and I joined the many thousands of other Nurses supporting the NHS throughout the pandemic.

Luckily, during the summer of 2020, personal care services were able to resume, having previously created a small clinic space in my hometown of Derby, I had a place to treat patients. With an ever-growing passion for skin and non-invasive anti-aging treatments, I became a certified Medical Grade Skincare professional, partnering up with AlumierMD, one of the world’s fastest-growing medical skincare brands. I also joined an established, Private GP clinic as a Practice Nurse/Aesthetics Nurse based in Nottingham, where I continue to practice.

So, if you’ve made it this far – well done. I told you it’s been a ride and I can only imagine where this fascinating world of medical aesthetics will take me. I hope this answers the question above, like many others will tell you - once a nurse, always a nurse! I will maintain my Nursing registration for my entire career, I will continue to support the NHS in my practice and I will always be first in line to cheer on my incredible friends and colleagues who continue to work selflessly for our healthcare systems during such a crazy time. For me, I’m so ready to welcome you all back into clinic on April 12th (everything crossed!)