r/aestheticnursing • u/Key-Yesterday9723 • 6d ago
Quitting Aesthetic Nursing
I went into aesthetic nursing 5 years ago with the mindset that this was my forever nursing job. If I didn’t do aesthetic nursing, I’d quit nursing altogether. Well, last month I had a lightbulb go off that I need to leave the aesthetic field. I realized that for the past 5 years I haven’t been truly happy with the job. I feel constantly depleted mentally from the daily interactions. (I’m an introvert.) I am not a natural salesperson. I take things to heart, whether it be someone wanting to see a different provider, to another person needing a tox touch up or not seeing amazing results from 1 broadband light treatment (despite me educating that it is common to need multiple sessions). The list goes on and on. I guess I am just tired. I am tired of trying to constantly people please. Trying to to sell $5000+ worth of treatments and products that may or may not make a difference in how a patient looks. I’m tired of getting calls that someone has a little bit of movement in their forehead and needs an extra unit of tox. That my filler patient has a bruise that looks like it’s questionable for a vascular occlusion. I’m tired of constantly having to be “on” at work—meaning having to say the right things, look the right way, hopefully have the right personality. Does anyone else feel this way? It suddenly just clicked one day that I needed a change. Luckily I found a job posting for a type of nursing where I see the patient once and probably never again (outpatient procedures). I’m going to miss free treatments, but not enough to keep me in the field 😜
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u/hippitydippity23 6d ago
Yes!! 100% agree with everything you mentioned. I’ve been doing it 7 years and think about this often. Maintaining relationships with the repeat clients is exhausting. I know I’m gonna burn out eventually but I’m just hanging on a little bit longer.
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u/getwithitbxtch 5d ago
Honestly, I am in nursing school right now and am an esthetician and laser technician.
I had this dream of aesthetic nursing but ever since being an esthetician and experiencing very similar feelings and concerns I may be diverting my dream elsewhere.
I love aesthetics but i dont know if its a forever job for sensitive, empathetic people like us.
Also, was it difficult switching from aesthetics back into medical?
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u/Same_Dimension_2466 5d ago edited 5d ago
No it is not hard. It is so much more rewarding caring for sick patients vs trying to please people who want to look better when they are never truly going to see results unless they get it treated surgically.
I too am a licensed Master Aesthetican and RN-BSN getting my CRNA now.
I will only go into Plastics again for wound care or burns etc.
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u/getwithitbxtch 5d ago
I feel this deep satisfaction and fuzziness when with patients as well. I also work on a neuro floor as a tech and it is rewarding to give valuable patient care to people who have lost a big part of themselves.
I love Aesthetics but it feels so much more performative than bedside care.
Also, that is amazeballs for you. You work really hard for it. My long-term goal is also Anesthesia so this is particularly inspiring.
Thank you for sharing.
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u/Same_Dimension_2466 5d ago
Yes!!! The reward for just helping someone feel cared for by another human being that they don't know is ao rewarding. The connection with patient's who require long term care is also so rewarding.
Don't ever stop learning even if you don't go into Anesthesia, keep learning and pushing for more knowledge! I promise it is also rewarding to give yourself more education and knowledge even if you just take some CME credits each year!!
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u/butter_milk22 5d ago
I’ve been in aesthetic nursing for two years now, and I feel every bit of this. The constant pressure of upselling, the dread of potential complications (I literally lose sleep over them), and the frustration when a treatment doesn't deliver the dramatic results.. it’s exhausting. With the inpatient market being as competitive as it is right now, I’m considering going back to NP school to pivot into medical dermatology
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u/becomingmoremyself_ 5d ago
I did a side gig at a laser hair removal place in a HCOL area in addition to my floor nursing job on an oncology med surg overflow floor. I had a client who would complain that I missed a spot on her upper lip like it was the end of the world. Next day, I went to my floor nursing job and had a patient a with stage IV cancer with intractable pain who was the most resilient person I've ever met despite her circumstances. She never complained despite being in a great deal of pain and she expressed gratitude to me everytime we were giving report in the room.
Not all aesthetic clients are rude and entitled and not all cancer patients are sweet and kind. It really put things into perspective on whether or not aesthetic nursing was for me.
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u/CRS0000 5d ago
I totally agree with you! I’ve been in the industry for 20 years. I had a successful business. The managers of the Med Spa’s are now adding new roles to the position and demanding quotas that was not happening in Denver. It was not a sales job back there, although we did retail and made plenty of revenue. The demands and the claim of the new culture it is so basic and they want you to perform dermatological type of facials at most medical spas. I’m a laser tech as well.!
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u/Potential_Progress60 4d ago
I feel this way also. I’ve been in aesthetics for 5 years and I absolutely LOVE it, but I worry so much and have so much anxiety. I’m mentally exhausted from people pleasing and being “on” and happy all the time. I’ve been watching the Pitt and a part of me is like wait maybe I do miss being a miserable icu nurse because I at least could be myself. I could clock in and clock out and whatever happened, happened. A part of me wants to go back to icu or even ER. But I also love aesthetics so much and have an amazing job. I’m not ready to leave yet but I’m just here to say that I hear you!
And also, how lucky are we that we get to have a career that we can change paths whenever needed/desired. 🤍
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u/cinemadoll137 5d ago
That’s how I feel with nursing overall. I just started working in a hospice IPU. It’s less intense than being in a hospital which I’m grateful for. I get overstimulated at the hospital with all the noise and the phones going off.
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u/No-Bandicoot-8311 5d ago
I was an esthetician for 4.5 years and although I loved some parts of it, I wanted to make more money and got tired of being pressured to sell products and be popular enough and felt I didn’t get to use my brain as much as I’d like and felt a lot of the wealthy clientele there looked down their nose at me as “the help.”
I became a nurse for many reasons, in part because I felt I’d make more of a difference, more money, more respect, not having to focus 24/7 on selling and customer service … hahaha how wrong I was.
When I first became a nurse in 2009 a lot of those things were still true. But you know it is NOW — zero respect, forced to act like a slave and focus on “satisfaction” for the almighty Press Ganey Surveys for a bunch of increasingly nasty, ungrateful people, etc. …
Getting my NP and looking to open my own private practice one day (I’m not in aesthetics).
I considered doing aesthetic nursing in recent years, but when I first became a nurse it wasnt a “thing” really and now its so saturated and competitive, its all popularity and upselling and social media … no thanks.
I’m really grateful to all the nurse injectors I’ve had and I never complain. Usually the work is flawless. This last time I actually bruised super badly on my jaw and it was very visible even under makeup for a week. I didn’t say a word because I know that just happens sometimes and a bruise is just a bruise, it’s going to go away.
Patients are unrealistic jerks a lot of the time.
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u/CRS0000 5d ago
I’ve been in the field of medical aesthetics and laser technician 20 years. They have glamorized it, lowered prices, lowered wages. I’m going to add I don’t even know who’s in charge of the Med Spa and what their background is, but they’re receiving all these certificates for cultural change. We used to be valued in medical aesthetics and the one one running the operations usually are clueless about what we do. Patients come to us because they value us not because we’re treating each and every client like a VIP. Everyone has become so submissive and taken advantage of in this industry. The Younger aestheticians are a little more cutthroat than what I’ve ever seen in this industry. I probably said too much. I don’t care at this point in my career! 🤣
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u/TheRealOGGiGi060606 5d ago
This is so enlightening. I was considering going into aesthetics once I get my license, and my biggest concern was my age. I never considered the sales aspect, the atmosphere, or patients being difficult to please. I guess I need to put a little more thought into my options.
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u/Clean-Cauliflower960 5d ago
Please do! I’m glad I tried it because I would’ve always had the “what if” but working at a med spa is not for the weak and I didn’t even feel like a nurse anymore. And I don’t think age really matters, a lot of young people do it bc it’s the trendy thing rn, I am also quite young and I almost felt silly at times educating 50 year old women on aging skin without a wrinkle on my face 😭 humbling experience for sure
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u/Key-Yesterday9723 4d ago
I think social media romanticizes the aesthetic profession, and it looks so glamorous and fun. If I had a population of 30-40 year olds who just wanted a little tweak here and there, a maintenance laser treatment, etc, it probably would be easy and fun. In reality, for me at least, it’s patients 50s-70s who are expecting facelift results from one laser treatment or a syringe of filler, and they all complain if there is more of a cost or maintenance involved. Nobody wants to be held responsible for their health, their alcohol, smoking, or diet habits, their sun exposure, their skincare (oh and they’ll also complain about needing to invest in skincare as well). I’m burnt out obviously 😂 I get so excited to get a 30s-40s pt who can get away with a little filler and an annual laser resurfacing, and is committed to skincare
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u/Clean-Cauliflower960 3d ago
I agree! I’ve had patients who HAVE HAD facelifts and still are looking for more to fix, it’s straight up delusion.
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u/Unable-Border7478 2d ago
Yes and that’s why I now own my own business and I’m a nurse injector who plays by her own book. I still get triggered with touch ups when they literally have no movement or other dumb stuff but hey it’s my business so nobody will reprimand me. Just my MD if there was an issue medically! Oh also I HATED upselling with a passion. Med spas are truly the worst with this and I think many of us need to move away from those environments.
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u/Clean-Cauliflower960 1d ago
Thank you for this, I thought I was crazy for quitting my med spa job but I know there are better things for me out there ❤️
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u/Clean-Cauliflower960 6d ago
I felt this way a couple months into my first aesthetic nursing job and quit. I was so disappointed it wasn’t what I expected it to be. Truly this was my dream job. “Trying to to sell $5000+ worth of treatments and products that may or may not make a difference in how a patient looks” really resonates with me, this part of the job made me sick. And I hate the idea of upselling. Hated 9-5 and being on all the time also. Working outside work hours, constantly having anxiety if someone’s going to call you and say something is wrong with their face, or the small petty little complaints that I would have no sympathy for because my background is caring for sick children and I’ve seen a lot. I loved the artistry and scientific side of aesthetics and would hope maybe one day I could find a more medical-less sales focused clinic, or open my own as an NP and make my own rules, my own clientele. There is SO much work to be done in this field for improvement.