Aesthetic Nurse Trades Hemodialysis Shifts for Aesthetics

The story below is about aesthetic nurse Magali Caetani. A graduate since 2006, in 2021 she chose to Specialize in Aesthetics. The reason has to do with the birth of her son, who is now 2 years old. She wants more quality time with him, in addition to a higher financial return.

Life as a Hemodialysis Nurse

Magali Caetani finished nursing school in 2006. That year, nurses in aesthetics was not a real option. So she took the most natural path, which was to enter the job market through the more common positions.

But before long, the aesthetic nurse realized she could look for an edge: a Postgraduate Program that would make her stand out among her fellow nurses. In her search for a specialty, she went into nephrology (related to the urinary system).

She is from Alfenas, Minas Gerais, but after graduating she moved to Manaus and then to Pará. And it was in Pará that she completed her Postgraduate Program in Nephrology. The idea worked and she became a hemodialysis nurse (hemodialysis is a method of filtering the blood).

Magali even said she liked the hemodialysis routine. But there was one problem: the shifts!

The Nursing Shift

In most health facilities, shifts run for long hours, which can reach 12 hours. And some hospitals can set routines of an incredible 24 hours of work, which is completely exhausting.

That was the problem Magali noticed once she started facing the shifts: the heavy routine. And since she recently became pregnant, she began to notice how important it is to have more free time to care for her son, something her current job didn't allow.

In addition, the aesthetic nurse also began to notice a second point: the emotional involvement with the patients undergoing hemodialysis procedures.

She says that where she worked there were two groups. One on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The other on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. But since the sessions are long, about 4 hours, the nurses formed a very strong bond with the patients.

“There we took care of them, and for them it's very hard to go there. They can't travel and they can't drink liquids, for example. So you are in close contact with them. When anything happens, you get involved, you feel it if there's bad news”.

The Move into Aesthetics

And it was from these points, and the need to have more time with her son, that she thought of the Aesthetics Field. Now it was different: that specialization had become a possibility, and Magali found there was no better time to change her career.

“I liked the work a lot, but I preferred to leave and go into aesthetics. In aesthetics, we go toward beauty and help people feel happier with a procedure”. That is how, in early 2021, she decided to take the Aesthetic Nursing Course.

You can probably imagine the reason: “to get out of this turbulence of nursing, with so many shifts”. And making the decision wasn't easy, but it was precise: “Now I decided to quit, even though I've been working at this place for 8 years. I'm going to work in aesthetics”.

The aesthetic nurse opens up. She says she really did like the hemodialysis routine and the patients. But she needed a less intense routine. “I'll be able to set my own schedule, spend more time with my son, who is just 2 years old. And on weekends, choose which day I want to work”.

And she compares it to her old life: “With nursing shifts it's not like that. On special dates, you can't get time off. While in nursing you have to show up, no matter what, in office-based aesthetics you can set your own hours much more”.

The Aesthetic Nurse's Future in the Job Market

Entrepreneurship! That is Magali Caetani's life and career goal. “In the coming months I intend to set up my own treatment room”. She explains that even though she has never worked in this market, she knows stories and accounts that it is lucrative.

“From what I hear from the people in the postgraduate program themselves, because most of them are already working in aesthetics, the financial return in aesthetics is very good. And I intend to have that too, with my own room”.

What she is certain of is that she will feel fulfilled by being able to create her own work routine, with the chance to earn more money and, at the same time, spend more time with her son. And she says this with conviction:

“I used to wake up very early and leave my son with the neighbor because I started at 5:30 a.m. With him asleep, I had to wake him up really early. Now, I won't have to do that. And I can take care of him and spend more time with him”.

Dina Lúcia da Silva Prazeres has a similar story. She also set aside traditional nursing to work in aesthetics and have more time for her children. Read it here.

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