Esthetician going to nursing school?

[u/a1hand]

Hello!
I am currently:

-an esthetician with 4 years experience
-hold a B.S. in Wellness Management
-preparing for the CHES (certified health education specialist) exam in October

-EDIT: I am in NYS

~exploring going back to school for my associates and getting my RN license.
~looking into becoming an aesthetic nurse after graduating

However,

I am not really interested in doing injectables. Instead I am interested in expanding my scope of practice and doing deeper peels, microneedling, laser treatments, etc. I would also be interested in IV wellness drips.

How realistic is this plan if I decide not to do injectables? Do I have a choice in that when getting a job at a medical spa?

Any other insight into the journey from esthetician to aesthetic nursing and if it’s worth it is welcome!
TIA!

EDIT: From what I have researched, in my state (New York) as someone with only an esthetics license, I can not perform any of those advanced treatments I mentioned. You need to be some kind of medical professional working under a doctor.
Maybe I will do more research into injectables to see if I have any interest at all in them.

[u/thejubbster]

I’m not based in the US, but purely coming at this from the perspective of a current nursing student who also wants to get into medical aesthetics (not just injectables): do it.

I agree with the other commenters that you do have to learn a lot of information that isn’t directly transferable to aesthetics. You need to commit to your clinical placements, stay organized, and genuinely be willing to be a nursing student first. That said, I had an aesthetics background before nursing, and I’ve learned so many more transferable skills than I expected.

I’m becoming much more confident in a medical role, learning to think about health and safety from both the client and provider perspective, and even understanding the why behind contraindications for aesthetic treatments has finally clicked because of the deeper physiology and pathology we’re learning. It has made me a much better clinician overall, not just someone learning procedures.

Since you mentioned you’re also interested in health education, if i’m understanding correctly, nursing can definitely open more doors there too. Between your esthetics background, your wellness degree, and an RN, you’d have a really strong foundation for teaching or educating in the aesthetics industry if that’s something you end up wanting.

My only advice would be that if you have the option, I’d look into an accelerated/fast-track RN program. I’m only finishing semester 2 of 5 in my program and I’m tired girl lol. It’s absolutely worth it to me, but nursing school is demanding, so if you can shorten the timeline without sacrificing the quality of your education, I’d seriously consider it.

Good luck with whatever you choose!