For 14 years, oncology was part of the life of Dr. Patrícia de Souza, a postgraduate student in Aesthetic Nursing.
Besides the exhausting routine, since the nurse handled both patient care and operations, such as head and neck surgeries and transplants, she also had to deal with the weight of oncology nursing: the possibility of losing patients.
“As rewarding as it was to see a cure, because there were those too, you treated and saw a long-standing wound closing, saw the patient recovering… but you also saw the losses. Like it or not, it's a long treatment, in many cases, and you build a connection and end up getting involved in the story. That was never easy,” says the postgraduate student.
Dealing with these issues outside of work was not an easy task either. But that wasn't a problem for Dr. Patrícia. The search for change only began when she decided she wanted to start a family.
Learn more about the story of Dr. Patrícia Souza, who left behind years of dedication to oncology and decided to follow her professional journey in Aesthetic Nursing.
A Dream Coming True: Discovering Aesthetic Nursing
When Dr. Patrícia decided to start her family, she didn't know the challenges ahead. After several attempts to get pregnant, she learned she would have to undergo some fertility treatments.
It took 12 years until she was able to get pregnant, and in that time, a lot changed in the nurse's life. She, who had previously thought about balancing her exhausting oncology shifts with caring for her son, saw that with the routine she already knew it would be unworkable.
“It was 12 years of treatment, and then when I had the baby, everything changed. It's that thing, you want to be with him, you want to take care of him. And when I remembered I'd have to go out to work, all the time I'd be away, I started thinking, ‘Who is going to take care of him? Who is going to stay with him? Someone else? How am I going to do this?’ And that's when everything changed, I couldn't work anymore and I resigned.”
After leaving her job, Dr. Patrícia decided to start a business in healthcare, but it didn't do very well. With the pandemic, the situation changed and her business stalled. Seeing her life change drastically and, on top of that, caring for her son, she began to feel bad, unmotivated, without expectations, hope or self-esteem.
That was when she discovered Aesthetics. Since she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to take care of herself, she was convinced to have some procedures to try to raise her self-esteem and stay motivated to keep fighting for her business. And that is how her life was transformed.
“Since even my self-esteem was low, I went to have some procedures on my face. As soon as the session was over, I was a different person. That's when I realized that working in Aesthetics was what I wanted, being able to give self-esteem, well-being and happiness back to my patients.”
But Dr. Patrícia didn't know she could specialize in the field with the Postgraduate Program in Aesthetic Nursing. She only discovered this specialization after a while, when she went back to having aesthetic procedures.
“A friend told me. She is also an aesthetics professional, trained at Nepuga, and recommended the Institution to me. It felt like a fresh start, because I had just moved to Campinas, and I found out about the specialization, the place where I could do my postgraduate program and, of course, pursue what I had always dreamed of: family and career.”
Schedule Flexibility in Aesthetic Nursing
The decision to leave oncology was precisely because of the exhausting hours and the little time she would have to dedicate to her family and her son.
After looking for more information about Aesthetic Nursing, Dr. Patrícia found that this was the right profession for her. Schedule flexibility was what she was looking for so she could keep working and still have time to watch her son grow up.
“It was everything I was looking for. And there were the other benefits too, of course. You can set your own hours and have a good financial return, but that's not what made me decide to start the Postgraduate Program in Aesthetic Nursing. I believe that when you dedicate yourself, do everything with love and care, the return comes, but the first step is wanting it.”
Following her friend's recommendations, she looked into Nepuga and found that the institution is a pioneer in Aesthetic Health. But something else caught her attention and made her start the specialization.
“Since we were at the beginning of the pandemic, I saw that Nepuga had a structural change and moved to digital. But it was different from other institutions, because there were live classes, there was a way to ask instructors questions, I had support. And the best part was that I could start the Postgraduate Program in Aesthetic Nursing right then, while taking care of my son.”
Changing Professions: Academic Support and Clinical Immersion at Nepuga
Dr. Patrícia talked a lot about the support Nepuga gave her. Since she came from another field, she had never had contact with Aesthetics, only with the procedures she received. But not having the knowledge and being away from classrooms for years did not stop the nurse from developing within Aesthetic Nursing.
“At first I just threw myself into it and went. Even with all the support I received in the online part, I was afraid to perform the procedures. I kept thinking about what the hands-on classes would be like, that I might not manage, that I might not get help from classmates. When I got there, it was all different. The girls help a lot, the TM (technical manager) taught me a lot. Today, I already feel more confident performing the procedures,” she says.
During the hands-on classes she discovered that she can not only work in Aesthetic Nursing, but also broaden her field by blending in Integrative Health procedures. However, what caught her attention most was how easy it is to open her own business.
“I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur and now I'll be able to have my own business. Not to mention that here, the networking is really good. The girls [other postgraduate students] have already invited me to open a clinic, to partner up… I'm really excited!”
Expectations and Plans for the Future in Aesthetic Nursing
For now, Dr. Patrícia Souza is not practicing. Her plans for the future are to finish the clinical immersion, feel more confident performing procedures and, only then, start working in the field.
“Soon I plan to open my own clinic, I still don't know whether in a partnership or not, even with several invitations. But I want to set aside a fixed amount of my day to see patients and a time to be with my son, which is what Aesthetic Nursing allows me.”
Antônio Germano
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
