Plastic surgery office nurses?

Specialties Ambulatory

Published

Specializes in L&D and OB-GYN office.

I'm an R.N. in an Ob-Gyn's office. He recently opened a 2nd satellite office in a nearby, but more rural area. He is interested in bringing in a 2nd doctor, who happens to be a plastic surgeon. They would share the 2 offices, each having office hours opposite of each other. He wants to do this to save money on office space rent and employee salaries. Ideally, for them, they would share employees. He mentioned the plastic surgeon would need someone, preferably a nurse, who would "counsel" the potential plastic surgery patient about the proposed surgery he recommends, talk about price and recovery, and ultimately "make the sale" of the surgery. The doctor would then give a % of the "sale" to the nurse or employee. My initial feeling is that I do not want to do this. I do not want to sell plastic surgery. I am not a sales person, I am a nurse. Do any of you out there do anything like this? What is it like?

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Specializes in Cardiac.

sounds interesting. do they give an employee discount. ;P

I don't know if I could sell plastic surgery either, perhaps reconstructive surgery, but I couldn't be like 'hey, your nose doesn't quite fit your face, its too big. I think we can fix it if you sign here.'....nah, not for me.

anyone have a job like this, how is it really?

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

Acutually yes, I worked for a hospital based plastic surgery program. I didn't "sell" plastic surgery, but I did talk with potential patients about the surgery(s) they were interested in via the phone. Mostly it was generalities and encouraged them to go in for a consultation as I wasn't a Doc and couldn't answer all their questions, we also discussed costs, how to finance, approximatly how long they would be out of work - things like that. I would also visit them during their stay in the hospital, help them make arrangements for hotel stays if they were from out of town, transportation. I also, went over the post-op orders/instructions with them before they left.

I don't know what it would be like working directly in a Doc's office. With elective surgeries, you will find many of these people have been thinking about the procedure for quite sometime before they "get the nerve" to see the doc. Most will have some good questions, some don't care they "just want it done". You will really learn to screen the PS addicts. Most plastic surgeons also to a lot of repair and reconstruction work and I will tell you that working with these patients was extremly rewarding.

I'd make sure the plastic guy is board certified and has a really good rep.

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Specializes in L&D/MotherBaby/Plastic Surgery.
sounds interesting. do they give an employee discount. ;P

I don't know if I could sell plastic surgery either, perhaps reconstructive surgery, but I couldn't be like 'hey, your nose doesn't quite fit your face, its too big. I think we can fix it if you sign here.'....nah, not for me.

anyone have a job like this, how is it really?

I've worked for a Plastic Surgeon for years and I love it.

When a patient comes in for consultation they're already interested in some type of procedure. And let me tell you.....you would NEVER say anything like what you said above to a pt!!! :)

It should be the Doctor who finds out what the patients concerns are & thoroughly explains the procedure, what type of results to expect....etc etc. In my office we also have an employee who takes photos & does computer imaging to give the pt a visual of what they'll look like, we also do "sizing sessions" for breast augmentation where we allow the pt to place different size implants into a bra to get an idea of how big she wants to go. Once the patient is well informed, its time to seal the deal......likely you'd answer additional questions, show before & afters of other patients, discuss costs/payment options etcetc!

Its a nice way to get a feel for another specialty. Does he operate on site? Mine does & it gave me the opportunity to learn how to scrub/circulate/recovery & post-op care. We also do reconstructive work (mole removal/skin cancer etc).

Its a nice environment to work in. Its also very lucrative.....its great that you'd get a %. I say give it a shot!!

JUST a FYI.....be sure the Doc is actually a Board Cert Plastic surgeon. Many Docs are now giving themselves the title of "cosmetic surgeon" or other similar terms and then doing procedures they aren't properly trained in.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

In my area, we have a large plastic surgery, derm practice. I have referred several of my pts to them for derm issues. The pts uniformly come back and say they were being pushed to do plastic surgery!!!

One of my pts (elderly male in his 80's) was referred to them for a large skin cancer (face) removal. I sent him there because of insurance reasons. He comes back to me saying that the staff all looked "plastic" to him and when he didn't want to have the procedure done there, they sent him a nasty letter via certified mail!

So...it is important to work for a reputable practice!

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Are you sure that you understand this correctly? A nurse can not try to "sell" elective surgery or any surgery, it is out of the scope of practice.

My friend works for a plastic surgeon, she takes vitals, does pre-op and post op assessments and screens patients just like a regular office. She has patients sign consent forms and is in the room with the doctor if the patient has to de-robe. Also, she notonly seespeople undergoing elective/cosmetic procedures, but also burn patients, post-accident patients, etc.

I'm an R.N. in an Ob-Gyn's office. He recently opened a 2nd satellite office in a nearby, but more rural area. He is interested in bringing in a 2nd doctor, who happens to be a plastic surgeon. They would share the 2 offices, each having office hours opposite of each other. He wants to do this to save money on office space rent and employee salaries. Ideally, for them, they would share employees. He mentioned the plastic surgeon would need someone, preferably a nurse, who would "counsel" the potential plastic surgery patient about the proposed surgery he recommends, talk about price and recovery, and ultimately "make the sale" of the surgery. The doctor would then give a % of the "sale" to the nurse or employee. My initial feeling is that I do not want to do this. I do not want to sell plastic surgery. I am not a sales person, I am a nurse. Do any of you out there do anything like this? What is it like?
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My friend works for a plastic surgeon, she takes vitals, does pre-op and post op assessments and screens patients just like a regular office. She has patients sign consent forms and is in the room with the doctor if the patient has to de-robe. Also, she notonly seespeople undergoing elective/cosmetic procedures, but also burn patients, post-accident patients, etc.

Is your friend an RN for the PS? The things you described that she does are exactly what I want to do, I'm just trying to figure out how to get this kind of job, what experience is needed, etc. (I'm a nursing student)

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I am a circulator and recovery nurse for a plastic surgeon. What you're describing sounds like what our patient coordinator does (who is an RN)...except she doesn't get a percentage and she's not really selling it.

When patients come in to have a consultation with a plastic surgeon, they've usually made up their mind to have the surgery and don't need someone to "sell" it to them. Our Patient Coordinator basically discuses how much the surgery will be and schedules the surgery. She also answers many questions and concerns that the patient may have.

The scrub techs as well as myself are the ones that go over the consent forms before surgery, size BA patients, and describe in detail what each patient can expect before, during, and after surgery. We also do blood work if it's needed.

The patient coordinator doesn't really use an nursing skills...basically just talking with patients.

Hopefully this helps...

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Specializes in Intensive care, Operating room.

I worked for a Dermatologist who was a Mohs surgeon. Very cool job for a surgical nurse with small children. It was mostly skin cancer although he did some "lump and bump" type surgeries. He was great about letting the nurses with experience use it. I was suturing on all kinds of cases including facial and skin grafts. Great hours and interesting cases. You never know until you try. I was really nervous to leave a hospital OR to a Derm office, but it ended up being great, I was there over 5 years before my husband's job moved us.

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This doesn't sound like something the nurse would do. Once I graduate, I plan on working for a plastic surgeon. Basically, nurses working in PS offices take vitals, perform the role of a scrub tech if surgery is performed in the office, do assessments, and "sit-in" for consultations. You can certainly educate the patient on the procedure, but initially that should be the role of the PS, not the nurse. It sounds odd to me that they are looking to give you a percentage. Are they expecting you to persuade the patient into surgery? Just don't do anything you don't feel comfortable doing. Good luck.

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