Leaving nursing for aesthetics: how realistic is the career change?

[NattyLee]

I left nursing about two years ago to start a psychology degree, but I’ve realised that the roles I’m genuinely drawn to now is aesthetics. I’m trying to figure out how realistic it is to make that change and what the pathway looks like in real life rather than just on paper.
If you’ve made the move yourself:

• How easy or difficult was the transition?
• What training did you need, and how long did it take?
• Did your nursing background help, or did you feel like you were starting from scratch?
• Anything you wish you’d known before switching?

I’d really appreciate any honest advice or experiences. I’m trying to plan my next steps and would love to hear how others navigated it. Thanks x

Lots of ex nurses do it. I know quite a few of my ex colleagues who have. Go for it.

I know a few nurses that do both. If you have space to have a salon at home you can do really well. Social media locally and word of mouth if your good! Lots of average aesthetics out there, few good ones.

I wonder if you’re a bit late to the party . I know a few health care professionals who have gone into aesthetics and from what they’ve described, the competition now seems quite high. One of them is a GP and she’s gradually adding back more GP shifts so still doing aesthetics but it’s not her full time role like she first imagined.

I agree eoth @Bunnycat101 One of my DC's looked into it, but the market is pretty saturated with nurses, certainly round here. Could you start off doing it as a side hustle type thing, and see how it goes?

Are you a prescriber ? I think there’s probably more work.

It’s an extremely competitive market.

I looked into it as an AHP but thought it not worth doing.

The beauticians who had good established businesses are now all coming up to completing their nursing degrees to add to their credentials. The industry is changing, particularly in Scotland currently, and moving towards a healthcare professional focused view.

Most clients will have already found a practitioner they are loyal too and if money is tight for people then cosmetics may be something that they give up.

Factor in:

• a decent course by a recognised provider plus ongoing training for advanced treatments etc
• insurance
• setting up buying basics eg. equipment, beauty couches, renting a room/setting up an outbuilding/room in the house, uniform etc
• self employment/LTD, accountant, various other fees that come with running a business
• most importantly - paying a prescriber Botox MUST be prescribed and the laws are ever changing. This will eat into profit.

The 2 nurses I know who do it are prescribers and still work whilst doing it.

If setting up on your own, get good watertight indemnity insurance.( regardless of your set up)

Brush up on anaphylaxis training, look into anaphylaxis kits, have the best governance that is well researched and covers all aspects of patient safety if you are called to court or needing to defend your PIN.
Do you need to apply for CQC approval?
What about tax considerations and financial accounting?

I don’t know much about it, but these would be my first ports of call.

Its like anything really. Research the local area and build the business up gradually. I do NHS and private podiatry and Im a nurse and prescriber as well. My prescribing course was the best thing I did because I can do treatments I can charge a lot of money for without paying anyone else.

@Gettingbysomehow thanks for the sound advice. I am doing my research and might look into doing the nurse prescribing course too. It does sound like it's worth it.

I think you would need to sound out your local market pretty carefully.

There are a lot of providers already in business and so many nurses have gone down the same road. I don't know any who have given up their 'day job'.

It seems like there's a lot of CPD and needing to be trained in new products etc too.

@WydeStrype Thanks for the advice. I have seen there is a lot of CPD. I am under no illusions that it is competitive but am still willing try. I always think there is no harm in trying. So I will give it go!😊x

I’m a nurse prac who has been qualified for 16 years and I’ve lost the count of nurses I know that work in aesthetics. It’s got to be in the 20-30 mark. Most have been doing it a while, have a client base and work part time in the NHS also.

The ones who got into it years ago say there is more competition than ever and now branching into some beauty therapies etc aswell to try and stand out.
I wouldn’t go down that route…you’re putting yourself in a vulnerable position (I’m saying this as a nurse prescriber also).

For me I haven’t (and probably won’t get any aesthetic treatments) but I would never trust a nurse to inject into my face…they haven’t had enough training about anatomy to the face etc and I would only trust a max fax consultant or a dentist.

please look into doing something else.

The market is saturated with aestheticians but not all are qualified clinicians. As a nurse this is your main advantage. You should definitely go for it. I’m sure it’s much more lucrative than regular nursing. Best of luck.

95% or more of aestheticians are not dentists or max fax consultants. So the vast vast majority of customers don’t share your qualms about nurses providing aesthetic treatments.

Because the majority of people are ok with it, doesn’t mean it’s correct. A hell of a lot can go wrong and one minor mistake is dangerous.
Some people are risk takers and ‘wing it’ in my practice I don’t ‘wing it’ and I’m a safe practitioner.
I wouldn’t encourage nurses to put their pin at risk.
As I’ve said I personally don’t want any aesthetic ‘tweakments’ but the only people I would trust are those professions as they spend years learning the anatomy and physiology of face and neck.

Interesting article here about “side hustle” treatments:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/feb/rise-uk-aesthetic-botulinum-toxin-industry-outpacing-regulation

Definitely 😍

@WydeStrype Thanks for the advice. I have seen there is a lot of CPD. I am under no illusions that it is competitive but am still willing try. I always think there is no harm in trying. So I will give it go!😊❤