| REGULATORY AFFAIRS | OPINION
AESTHETIC NURSING: PUTTING PATIENT SAFETY FIRST
Sharon Bennett discusses the challenges facing aesthetic nursing in the UK, and why regulation and standards must continue to put the patient first
also estimated that approximately 70% of all injectable treatments in the UK are carried out by nurses. Nurses have been providing
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non-surgical treatments for over 25 years and have led the way in establishing medical aesthetics as a specialty, entrenched in the principles of nursing and with a strong commitment to a set of professional standards and competencies. There are a number of challenges
currently facing nurses working in aesthetic medicine in the UK. These include accessing quality training and education, accessing reliable information, expert representation at a political level, and working in isolation.
Regulatory affairs At present there is no regulatory body in the UK governing aesthetic practice, no law determining who can and cannot treat the unassuming public and no registers to be struck off from nor punitive measures in place for those who are non-medically qualified ÔpractitionersÕ . The present UK Government review on
Cosmetic Procedures led by Sir Bruce Keogh, and also the British Standards InstituteÕs role as part of the European
T HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT approximately 1.3 million cosmetic procedures are carried out in the UK each year, and that non-surgical injectable treatments account for 92% of the total. It is
Committee (CEN) producing Standards on Surgical and Medical Aesthetics, have highlighted concerns that there should be a mandatory requirement of specific levels of qualification to ensure patient safety is met and preserved, and prevent the unqualified and unskilled from carrying out minimally-invasive aesthetic procedures. The principal purpose of any type of
regulation of any health profession is to protect the public from unqualified or inadequately trained practitioners and effective regulation should allow the public to understand where to look in order to receive safe treatment from well-trained practitioners in an environment where their rights are protected.
Challenges faced In the UK nurses are unique. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the largest regulator of nurses and midwives in the world, with approximately 680000 registrants, has determined that nursing is a self-regulating profession, as has the General Medical Council (GMC) for doctors. There are challenges aesthetic nurse
practitioners working in private practice must face. The British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN) plays an essential role in addressing the challenges that nurses in this specialist field of practice are met with. To date, both the
prime-journal.com | January/February 2013
SHARON BENNETT is Vice Chairman of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN)
email: sharonbennettuk@gmail. com
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