After twenty years working inside hospitals, Dr. Railda Aires decided to begin her career in Aesthetic Nursing. The main reason was burnout, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
When she chose nursing, the postgraduate student was looking to give her son better living conditions. Today, the change in career is for her own well-being and quality of life.
Aesthetic Nursing: a path to quality of life
The weight of the shifts and the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion began to show their effects on Dr. Railda's health some time ago. But the burnout came only with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite years of study to stand out in her field, working in a large hospital on one of São Paulo's main avenues, the postgraduate student no longer saw meaning in what she did.
“Seeing sick people, treating disease, was not what I wanted. I couldn't do it anymore. With the pandemic, our workload tripled. While many stayed home, we were there, working. We had to stretch ourselves thin”.
In her search for a new field, Dr. Railda began to think that she wanted to give her patients what she received when she had aesthetic procedures done.
“Especially as we get older, we start to value aesthetics more. It's a botulinum toxin application here, a filler there, you feel good, better… and that's how I realized this was what I wanted to do: not to make a person pretty, but to give happiness back to her”.
So in 2017, Dr. Railda decided to start the postgraduate program at Nepuga. But she stopped her studies because of a Nursing Council resolution that prohibited Aesthetic Nursing professionals from applying injectables.
“When I chose aesthetics, one of the reasons was that, as a nurse, I could work with something I love: needles. But the council didn't allow us to apply botulinum toxin, so I got discouraged and decided to stop the specialization. It made no sense”.
Unaware of the regulation by Cofen (Brazil's Federal Nursing Council), which qualifies Aesthetic Nursing specialists to perform minimally invasive procedures and injectables, Dr. Railda resumed the postgraduate program, seeing aesthetics as her only possibility for well-being.
“With the pandemic, those who worked on the front line had a huge amount of work. It's very draining, very hard. And if I was already tired before, that got worse. Because a nurse has to deal with a lot of people: doctors, technicians, patients, family members, other staff… and at night the number of employees goes down and you get overloaded. I couldn't do it anymore. And Aesthetics, besides being something I like, is the field that lets me practice my profession, but outside a hospital”.
Since she had stopped studying a long time ago, she wanted to start over from the beginning, even if it meant studying the same subjects again.
“I got a lot of attention from the Nepuga team. They gave me the chance to pick up where I left off or start from scratch. Besides the fact that it had been years since I'd studied Aesthetics, it's also not a field I know, so I preferred to start everything over, to have more confidence and quality”.
And studying was not easy. Once again, Dr. Railda stretched herself thin to balance other responsibilities with the pursuit of her goal: a change of life.
Effort and dedication to reach her dream
The choice to study again only came when Dr. Railda had her son. Determined to give him better conditions, she began her technical course in nursing.
With her dedication and effort, she stood out where she worked and began her undergraduate degree in nursing. After that, she never stopped studying, always seeking to offer the best, no longer to her son, but to the patients she treated in hospitals.
However, despite all her dedication and effort, however rewarding and valued it was, Dr. Railda began to feel that she still had not found her purpose. She no longer saw happiness in her work and felt more and more exhausted.
Once again, she found herself looking for a new specialization, so that this time she could offer the best to one of the most important people in her life: herself.
In Aesthetic Nursing, she found the opportunity to combine her quality of life with promoting her patients' health and also having a good financial return. But for that, she had to work very hard.
“Nothing comes easy. I know that, and that's why I'm here today. When I went back to Aesthetics, I was determined to leave hospitals. I don't want to work with illness anymore, I can't take this exhaustion anymore. But to get what I want, I have to put in the effort. Today is a day like the others when I come to study: straight through, after exhausting shifts.”
And to get through the intense days of study and work, she uses her breaks to rest.
“I come tired from the shifts and I make choices: sleep or eat. Most of the time, I prefer to sleep. I rest a little and I'm ready to study. And even tired I come, because I know how worn out and stressed I am from my job, so it's motivation!”
Quality of life: the most anticipated return
The exhausting work of hospital shifts, in addition to the weight of working with illness, left Dr. Railda with little social life and, above all, little time to take care of her own health.
“I get home from the hospital dead. That's how I feel. It drains you so much, sucks everything out of you, that you finish a shift and just want to lie in bed and that's it. Then it's another day and you go back to the hospital. There's no life”.
With aesthetics, she found the possibility of working while having time to take care of herself, stay healthy, and rest.
“Even though I'm working really hard now, I know that down the road I'll get a return. I'll be able to work with flexible hours and, of course, have a good financial return”.
The career change
Even without having completed the postgraduate program, Dr. Railda is already working in the field. With the hands-on classes inside the teaching units, which have facilities similar to advanced aesthetic clinics, she developed skills and felt confident to practice.
“I leave my shifts, leave here, and do some injectable procedures. It's the beginning, necessary so that I can gain more experience and knowledge too.”
For Dr. Railda, this step is also important to make the career change in the best way, since it lets her get to know the market and have financial security when she leaves the hospital completely.
Another advantage is that practicing before finishing the postgraduate program allows the Aesthetic Nursing specialist to promote her work and already plan her practice.
“I want to start my own business, work for myself, set my own hours, and I know that first I need experience. So this is already a path to reach my goal. Today I dedicate myself and put in the effort, tomorrow I reap the return”.
Learn more stories of Aesthetic Health specialists connected to Nepuga.
Success Stories>Aesthetic NursingAntônio Germano
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
