With Her Mental Health Affected, Aesthetic Nurse Leaves Hospital Shifts

Today's story is that of nurse Carolina Hipólito. From Niterói (Rio de Janeiro), she has built a professional career over the last two decades working in oncology. That was 20 years caring for patients with serious illnesses. That routine, so close to death, caused some trauma. With her mental health affected, an aesthetic nurse leaves hospital shifts and shifts her focus to the joy of her patients.

Her career did not go the way she wanted. At first she sought to work in emergency care, with ambulance calls, but she ended up in oncology and neonatal care, very different from her original idea.

A little over a year ago she decided to find new meaning in her professional life and discovered aesthetic nursing. Recommended by some nurse friends, she sees a different future, with new horizons and much more happiness on this new path. Carolina wants to change and work in health promotion from now on.

Aesthetic nurse leaves hospital shifts to give her career a new direction

At the start of our professional journey, it is always very hard to choose what we want to be for the rest of our lives. Of course, nothing is final, and changes can happen along the way. Today's interviewee ran into all of these difficulties. 

Carolina Hipólito chose nursing more than 20 years ago. When she entered healthcare, she was certain she wanted to work in emergency care and on ambulances. After graduating, Carolina ended up working in oncology and in the neonatal unit. 

Although it was not her initial wish, working in nursing was also rewarding for Carolina. After years facing patients with serious illnesses, the stressful routine and direct contact with death gradually caused some emotional problems for Carolina. It is not easy to handle so much pressure for two decades and stay strong without any trauma when seeing loved ones, patients who often become friends, having to say goodbye. 

“It is exhausting, like that. People who work hospital shifts always work a lot. I work basically the whole week, 24-hour shifts, I work with chemotherapy, so we see a lot of people dying. Besides the physical wear, there is the emotional toll. Aesthetics is something lighter, we work promoting joy and health.” 

However, the time has come when Carolina will say goodbye to the exhausting shifts of up to 24 hours and change her focus: she chose not to deal directly with illness, but with health promotion. Carolina will now be an aesthetic nurse.

Emotional toll and an intense schedule harm patient care

Carolina's experience in oncology was intense. With the exhausting routine working in the pediatric and neonatal ICU (Intensive Care Unit), the nurse faced significant physical and emotional challenges, having to confront very serious illnesses every day and deal with patients in critical situations, including those in terminal stages. 

What weighed most on her daily shifts of up to 24 hours was having to be with patients undergoing chemotherapy. Moments that demanded a lot of her, both physically and emotionally. It was in this context that she realized the need for a change. 

“I want to work with something light, that gives me joy to do and, most importantly, that is mine, where I do not have to work for anyone else. I want to be an entrepreneur.” 

Like many other colleagues in her profession, transitioning to aesthetic nursing was a decision made recently, motivated by several different factors. Carolina thought about it a lot. It took a year to make this decision. When looking for a postgraduate program in aesthetic nursing, Carolina was influenced by some friends who had already done the same specialization. With the help of social media, the nurse fell in love with aesthetics and began exploring this new field, and she quickly found herself enchanted by all its possibilities.

Personal and professional appreciation were decisive factors in the change

For Carolina, aesthetics represents more than a simple career change; it is an opportunity to feel better about herself, to work with something she loves, and to have control over her own professional destiny. The financial side also played an important role in her decision, considering how nursing is undervalued in the current financial context and the prospect of greater professional recognition and financial return in aesthetics.

“Nursing is not a financially valued profession. You see the fight over the base salary. Aesthetics is a field that will value the profession, and we will have financial return. Besides liking what you do, it is important to have a return, and aesthetics is a field with a very good return. People come to you for the procedure, they trust you. Double the reward, financially and professionally.”

With clear plans for the future, Carolina intends to dedicate herself exclusively to aesthetics, moving away from hospital shifts. Although she has not yet officially started practicing in the field, she is already preparing for it, performing small procedures as part of her learning. Among her preferences, the facial area stands out, where she sees the greatest difference and impact on people.

Carolina Hipólito represents the determination of a professional who seeks not only a career but personal and professional fulfillment, finding in aesthetics more than a new direction: a new form of recognition and satisfaction.