In 2017, many nurses saw their dreams and goals of changing their lives threatened by Cofen (Brazil's Federal Nursing Council), when the council revoked resolution 529/16, which had authorized specialization in Aesthetic Nursing.
But in 2020, Cofen resolution 626/2020 brought what the profession needed to take flight and own their own businesses. However, many nurses who were specializing in aesthetics when the authorization was revoked ended up suspending their postgraduate studies for fear that professionals would not be authorized again.
But that was not the case for Dr. Françoise Soares, an aesthetic nurse who now has her own practice and changed her life through Aesthetics. She did not let herself be shaken and finished her postgraduate program despite the uncertainty Cofen was going through.
“When I started the postgraduate program, several nurses were dropping out. Today they regret it and have come back. While I am already practicing, they are still studying, because they did not believe in the potential of nursing,” says Dr. Françoise.
Learn Françoise's story, as told in an interview with Prof. Dr. Ana Carolina Puga, MSc.
Goodbye, 60-hour shifts. Welcome, Aesthetic Nursing!
Like the lives of many nurses, Dr. Fran's routine was hectic and exhausting. She split her time among three hospitals, with no days off, living through the madness of 60-hour shifts. She needed to change her life!
“When I started the program, nurses were not allowed to practice in aesthetics, but I never gave up anyway. I did a lot of research, including with the Council itself to see the requirements, and I invested in the course,” she says.
The aesthetic nurse says Cofen authorized nurses in aesthetics when she was already finishing her postgraduate program, and that was her chance to start a new life. Besides reducing her workload, her work today is focused on promoting people's well-being, whereas before she dealt more with death than with life.
“Today I am very happy to work in this field. Working with a person's well-being, especially for me, who worked with death all the time, is priceless. I never regret for a moment having invested in this area of aesthetics, because it is so good to work with a person's self-esteem and leave them satisfied with the result. It is work that makes me extremely grateful, fulfilled and proud to say I am an aesthetic nurse,” Dr. Fran emphasizes.
Vision and entrepreneurship
Proud of and confident in her path at the institution, the aesthetic nurse says she left the postgraduate program already working in the field with complete confidence. And she credits that to the Nepuga family and to the professors, whom she still contacts to this day when she has a question.
“Nepuga added a lot of weight to my résumé, it was fundamental, and I am proud to have been part of this family as a Filha da Puga,” she says.
Today, Dr. Fran has her own practice in Angra dos Reis – RJ, a visionary decision, since she was the first aesthetic professional in her municipality.
When Dr. Ana Carolina asked in the interview whether the decision to go into aesthetics had been worth it and whether the financial return had exceeded her expectations, the nurse had no doubt in her answer. “It was absolutely worth it. Today I earn in one procedure what I used to earn in a month.”
Dr. Ana Carolina says she is happy and proud to be part of this story and to have contributed to the nurse's life change.
“I am very happy to see her entrepreneurship, so young (26) and already building a business in the field, believing even more in nursing. How many nurses came to me saying they were going to quit the program, and I told them not to give up, because if they stopped at that moment, when the profession authorized nurses in aesthetics again, they would already be graduated and ready to work in the field. I heard so many ‘no’s, but I still went after my ‘yes.’ So that positivity was fundamental,” Dr. Ana Carolina concludes.
#FilhosdaPuga|Success Stories>Aesthetic NursingJosiele Batista
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
