Aesthetic Nursing vs Hospital Nursing

[milk1996, BSN, RN]

I am a new graduate and have offers at laser away as an aesthetic RN and also in med surg. Would you recommend to start in med surg or hospital and later do aesthetic nursing? I am just worried if I do aesthetic nursing it limits me as to what other types of jobs I will be able to do in the future. I do want to become an aesthetic nurse in the future but I know that you are also more limited if that is the only type of nursing you do and the area you live does not have that many medical spas. I think I eventually want to become a nurse practitioner. Thank you.

[2BS Nurse, BSN]

If your goal is to eventually become a NP, definitely start with Med Surg. You aren't going to gain broad nursing knowledge in aesthetics.

If your goal is to only work in aesthetics for the rest of your life, then start in Dermatology. Clinic Derm jobs are not high paying but give you a better background and you will obtain a wealth of skin knowledge. 

You can always transfer from Med Surg to Derm or aesthetics. It will be difficult to go in the other direction.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

The older I get, the more "Do what you want" is the advice I both give and take myself!  I mean, working med-surge will definitely set you up to enter any specialty you want in future.  On the other hand, it's likely to be less pleasant (I just mean in terms of physical exhaustion, hours, holidays etc) than an aesthetics clinic.  So, just weigh how much you are really concerned about your career trajectory, and how that compares against your quality of life right now.  I skipped inpatient and went directly into a community clinic because I just didn't care what would make me the strongest candidate for some vague future career.

If you're a qualified and experienced RN, you will never have a hard time finding a job. Never. (I speak as someone with zero inpatient experience.) But if all your experience is in aesthetics, you might not have as much ability to be choosy about what job you take down the line.

[Golden_RN, MSN]

My advice would depend on your age/goals.  If you're 25 and have a long career ahead of you, and want to have different types of opportunities, I'd recommend med-surg so you get the foundational knowledge to do whatever you want in the future.  However, if you're 50 and this is a second career and you might only work for 15 years total, then my advice is to totally do what makes you happy.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

Golden_RN said:

My advice would depend on your age/goals.  If you're 25 and have a long career ahead of you, and want to have different types of opportunities, I'd recommend med-surg so you get the foundational knowledge to do whatever you want in the future.  However, if you're 50 and this is a second career and you might only work for 15 years total, then my advice is to totally do what makes you happy.

Absolutely.  I entered nursing as a second career.  I was around 35, which is not terribly old, but I was married (to a breadwinner) and had a child and generally knew where my life was headed.  My choices would have been different if I had been 22.