periwinkles

If you went to esthetician school, would they then hire you to do botox or would you still need all those hours of experience doing it first? Because esthetician school does not teach you Botox.

What if you just took a course for Botox injections? or is that what the $300 course was for?

Hi, I'm sure their are course and certifications that lpn's can take. If you called around you could find out real quick. It will either be yes or no. I have always found it hard to break out of any area of nursing whether RN or LPN. I have been both LPN and RN and seems like you end up pigeon holed in one specific area and is hard to get out. For example, I have years of critical care and other experience but one time I tried to get a job in a nursing home and they turned me down because I never worked in a nursing home and had no experience with insurance and medicare. Go figure. Actually, over the years with all the changes going on, seems that doctor's offices are hiring more LPN's than RN's. More cost effective in alot of cases. If I were you I would really do my homework and check out your opportunities in the doctor's offices that do esthetics, and also the chain spas. See what qualifications they are looking for first. Call them or go online and try to find classified ads and check out the job qualifications. I would do that before plunking out ten thousand bucks to get your esthetician's license.

MHarrah, That's fantastic that your rent is free. What an opportunity! As far as fixing the place up and hiding the ugly parts. Just think of it as one of those Hollywood sets that they put together for filming. Decide on the personality of the room you want to create first. Tuscany, Zen, Nature, Roman, etc. I guess you already have your equipment, but think of placement. Paint can cover a multitude of sins, but matte finish and soft colors. Pick a color scheme. Mochas, browns. Blues. Relaxing colors, read a book on color therapy. If you can't draw, then there are stensils or other ways to trim. You can use draperies to cover and accent a wall. Thrift shops, discount material stores. yard sales, can find all kinds of stuff. Used curtain rods and some material draping can do and is easy. You can cover a whole wall with curtains to soften the room. Bathroom floor. I would stay away from rug, not sanitary. If your dad's handy he can put a piece of plywood down more evenly and put some stick on tiles on top. Window, not good that you can look in yikes! Curtains. If you want the natural light, just leave the top part of window exposed, so no one can look in. Sink. If bottom cabinet is the problem, cover with material like a curtain. If it is the actual bowl, hmm, go to home depot and ask someone about improving the finish of the bowl. You didn't describe it in detail.?? Don't make clutter. Keep it simple and accessorize with clean lines, simple things like candles set in stones inside of a simple bowl. All this stuff you can get at a dollar store. A water element, maybe a small electric fountain. Look in thrift shops, people get rid of them alot. Remember the five elements fire(candles), earth(a plant), metal(anything metal), water(the fountain), and wood(anything made of wood). Include these in your decor. Don't forget the ceiling! That's what clients see when their on their backs getting treatments :) If you need to hide something or partition off a space you can get one of those clothing racks on wheels and cover it with material, like a shower curtain type deal and it's moveable. Like for the exit door. You dont' live in AZ do you?? If you did, I'd come over and help you. http://www.touchofclasscatalog.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=99&KickerID=2746&KICKER

MHarrah, It's doctors like her who make RNs want to start their own business. She sounds like a "user". Crappy wages. Ugh! That's a slap in the face, unless you are just there for the experience and eventually move on to do your own thing. Her telling patients that peels don't work is lame. Does she really believe that. Doesn't sound like it. She just wants them to keep coming to her and collect their copay and push topicals(she gets the percs from the drug companies). The old "mill". As far as contacting dermatologists hoping they would refer patient to an outside source for their peels etc. I would try offering the doctor a free tour and treatment of your facility so they could decide for themselves whether you are credible enough to refer their patients to. After all, if their patients are not pleased for some reason that would reflect back on them. Yeah, sounds good if you tell someone you work for a Dermatologist, but don't under estimate yourself as an RN. Patients love nurses! And they trust us, probably more than MD's. We are the ultimate patient advocates from the heart. (Nothing personal Ebben_s;))

Yes, I suppose "know how" goes a long way despite which letters one has after their name. I feel it's important to surround yourself with people who share a common goal and have the experience and/or willingness and drive to make the business flourish. That may be how win-win collaborations can exists between RN/NP and MD's. Everyone gets a piece of the pie, just in different proportions. Certainly would cut back on the competition. But MD's would have to be fair in cutting the pie. That's the trick. I worked for a Dermatologist for three years. This was about ten years ago before medical aesthetics became popular. No one could figure out why he only hired RN's. Turns out he could see the future coming and wanted to be prepared to gradually transition his practice into that specialty. He did just that and now is extremely successful. Had the jump on everyone in his area. He promoted synergy in the office environment, not competition. If everyone's happy, business booms. I would love to see less competition in the medical field and more "working together" towards a common goal.

Yes, that's a good point. Also, for those RN's who have gotton aesthetic license, there are some really gray areas regarding microdermabrasion and epidermal leveling. State Board of Nursing couldn't really give me a straight answer when it came to the epidermal leveling. Yet non nurses could do it under their aesthetics license, no problem. Seems like this field is so new for nurses that State Board hasn't had a chance to catch up with it's rulings. And it is different in each state. So, yes, check malpractice and call State Board before doing anything. Don't just assume that it's ok.

Ebben_s, Welcome, this is great that you are on the forum. If, as an internist, your aesthetics takes off really well in your practice the you may find it necessary to "expand" your staff to accommodate the demand. I, myself, would prefer to work under the direction of a physician because that would allow me to learn from them and go beyond what I would be permitted to do on my own under my RN license and Aesthetics license. Have you thought of the advantages/disadvantages of hiring RN vs. NP/PA into your practice, and which would be more cost effective and beneficial to your aesthetic practice in the long run as it grows?

Victoriakem, It was so long ago. Probably wouldn't be the same. I just remember it wasn't Cross Country. That one had a bad rep regarding the poor housing they gave the nurses. The one I went through(can't remember name)I think they merged with another one and I don't remember that one's name. Don't see one that rings a bell on this list > http://www.travelnursetimes.com/company3.html There must be alot of travel nurses on this forum that are working in AZ. If you really want to get first hand recommendation from one. Call the hospital you want to work for, and get connected with any of the units and see if there are any travel nurses working on the unit and get them on the phone for a minute, say you might want to come there to work and see which agency they use and if they like it. And you can ask them about their housing or anything else. Hey, that's about as first hand as you're gonna get.

Ok. Click on "user cp" at upper left corner of yellow bar. Then click on "user options", scroll down to Private Messaging and put a check mark in box next to "enable private messaging". And remember to go to bottom and save changes. This will allow member to private message you about information that they don't want to be public to all. And you don't have to give out your email address. If you look at top of screen on far right side, you will notice blue words saying private messages. That tells you when you have one. See if you can do that:) I went to Arizona Esthetics Institute in Glendale. It was around $10,000. There are other schools too, but I checked them out and decided went with my gut feeling and it payed off. I passed state board with no problem and was glad I went there. They also run a school for permanant makeup too, but I couldn't afford that at the time, or now. I am waiting to get surgery for some problems I'm having and am not working yet. You mentioned a friend having gone for certification for injectables like Botox etc. Where did they go and how much does it cost? Everything seems really expensive from what I can see on internet. Oh, and it is a flourishing career. Medi spas are cropping up all over and that would be another option for an rn esthetician. Thanks

Ivan57.......Tried to send you a private message but it won't let me. You may need to change your options to allow people to do that. Thanks

Hi, That's pretty much what I would like to pursue, working for a derm or plastic doc. I have my Esthetician's license. I did 600 required hours at a school here in the Valley. You can go part time or full time. Full time is about 4 mos, part time was 7mos. I did for a base education. Now I would probably need to get certified in Botox, etc. Sometimes the doctor's will hire an RN and pay for the training. I know that an RN has to work under a doctor if he/she is going to do invasive procedure. You need a medical director, even if he isn't on site. So if you want to open your own business and do services like that you need the medical director. Or, open own business and just offer non invasive treatments for skincare facials, waxing, peels up to certain strength. It gets kinda tricky with procedure such as microdermabrasion and epidermal leveling. AZ State Board says no, need medical director involvement. I will PM you.

Sassiebaz, when I came to az as travel nurse I was paid several dollars an hour above what the staff nurses were making at the hospital(John c Lincoln) and apartment was free, paid by agency, and I only had to pay about $35 a month toward utilities. They kept renewing my contract for awhile so that was really great.

I'm new to forum and wondered if there are any RN Estheticians in the valley posting here or any who are interested in that field. Thought it would be nice to exchange information. Thanks

Yes, I dread telling people I am a nurse. So much so that when I had to go to the ER once, I decided not to tell them that. They didn't ask and I didn't tell. Long story short, when physician came in to explain what he thought was going on (it was cardiac related, and I used to be a cardiac nurse) he explained things in nice detail, I loved it. Then a family member spilled the beans on me and the ER doctor got mad at me!! He said he must have sounded foolish to an RN with his simplified explanation. I told him I liked the explanation, cause otherwise I would have gotten nothing from him. They always think you know everything and don't bother to tell you. Also, people in general think we are paid alot higher than we really are. They think we are rich. ha And our jobs are piece of cake. Yeah, right! They also think RN's don't have to do anything "dirty". Not!! I don't mind people asking me advice, but there is a limit to what I know. Men think we are "good solid paychecks", applies to male nurses the other way around. Targets. Want "nursemaids". On a positive side, I do get respect for my profession, especially from older people. Guess all above goes with the territory, but it has made me aware of how society catagorizes people and treats them accordingly. I guess we all do that and do not realize it sometimes. I try not to.