How to Become a Botox Nurse in the UK

Are you a nurse looking to move into medical aesthetics? Perhaps you’re currently working in the NHS and are looking for a way to boost your income? Or potentially you’re looking for a new challenge that will move you into private practice full time? If so, a Botox training course may be for you and this blog will talk you through your options to becoming a Botox nurse.

Benefits of Attending a Botox Training Course for Nurses

There are some really rewarding benefits of becoming a ‘Botox Nurse’ also known as an Aesthetic Nurse in today’s current climate:

• A better work-life balance. We often hear from our delegates that the biggest benefit is re-gaining control over their working life. With a career in aesthetics you have complete flexibility and complete control over how many hours you work.
• The potential income you can receive as an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner far outweighs what you can receive as a Bank Nurse. As detailed below, the potential profit on non-surgical treatments such as Botox and Dermal Fillers are considerable especially when the time taken to perform these treatments is relatively short. A Botox treatment can take as little as 15 minutes and a Dermal Filler treatment can take only 30-45 minutes.

• We hear from many nurses that due to NHS red tape, their patient contact time has been greatly reduced as targets and deadlines become the main priority. As an Aesthetic Nurse you can regain this patient contact, sit down and talk with your clients and work out how you can improve their self-esteem.

Overall, working in this sector is a really rewarding career path for any nurse and it is an especially good time to be entering the cosmetic industry as demand continues to grow and awareness of non-surgical treatments becomes more widespread.

So you’ve decided it’s for you, what’s next? Here we offer our 8 Step Guide to Becoming an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner.

Step 1 – Registration with the NMC

It is a requirement that you have a valid NMC registration at the time of attending any Botox training for nurses. If your NMC registration has lapsed you will need to re-register before booking. It doesn’t matter what area of nursing you work in whether it’s mental health or midwifery you can still attend a Botox training course as long as we see proof of your current valid registration.

Step 2 – Prescribing the Botox

Botulinum Toxin Type A, commonly known as Botox is a prescription-only medicine. If you are already a nurse prescriber then you can move on to Step 3 below as you will have no problem prescribing the medicine for your patients.

If you’re a non-prescribing nurse then don’t panic. You are still able to train in Botox and Dermal Fillers and you have a couple of options available to you:

1. You will need a doctor, dentist or nurse prescriber to do a face-to-face consultation with your patient to prescribe the Botox prior to you performing the treatment. This can either be on arrangement with a colleague or via a prescribing service such as Aesthetic Associates.
2. If you want to move into aesthetics long term then it is best practice to complete the Non-Medical Prescribing (V300) course, which is offered at a number of universities UK-wide.

And remember, this is only a consideration with Botox treatments as Dermal Fillers are NOT a prescription-only medicine.

Step 3 – Finding a Botox Training Course

If you search online for Botox courses in the UK you will find approximately 50 providers offering this type of training. So how do you choose which Botox training course is right for you?

We’ve put together a list of 11 questions to ask an aesthetic training provider when enquiring about their courses:

1. How much training experience does the company have?
2. Where is the training carried out? Is it a clinical environment?
3. Who leads the training, what is their background and expertise?
4. Who are the team of trainers?
5. Are the training courses tailored to your needs?
6. Are models provided for your practical training?
7. Is there follow on support offered after your training?
8. Which products do they use for the training days?
9. How many delegates are in a practical session? (No more than 5 to maximise your learning experience)
10. What resources do they have in place in order for you to set up and grow your own business?
11. What do other delegates say about their training?

Knowing the answers to these 11 questions will greatly aid you in deciding which training provider is right for you.

Step 4 – Attend your Foundation Training – Botox Training for Nurses

Once you’ve decided on the right provider for you, you will then attend your Foundation Botox and Dermal Filler training day. You can expect the following from a training day at Cosmetic Courses:

• Interactive lecture led by one of our Consultant Plastic Surgeons covering the theory behind the Botox and Dermal Filler treatments as well as advice on how to set up in aesthetics
• Demonstration of the upper face Botox and basic Dermal Filler treatments
• The rest of the day is devoted to practical hands-on training in small groups of 4 delegates where you can practice both the Botox and Dermal Filler techniques on live models provided by us. This is all closely supervised by one of our expert cosmetic trainers.
• On successful completion of the training day you will be presented with a certificate which is recognised by all major insurance companies.

Over the past 15 years we have trained and mentored over 5000 delegates in Botox and Dermal Fillers allowing us to refine our Foundation Training programme to offer you the highest quality of aesthetic training.

The Foundation training day also makes up part 1 of your Level 7 Qualification in Injectables for Aesthetic Medicine. The Level 7 Certificate is an Ofqual-accredited qualification offering a knowledge and competency based framework with over 277 hours of comprehensive learning. If you feel a qualification would better suit your personal requirements then the Level 7 Certificate may be your preferred route for Botox training.

Step 5 – Pharmacy and Insurance

Once you receive your certificate you will need to provide your chosen insurance provider with a copy so that you can be issued with your indemnity insurance. We have written a guide to help you understand which business insurance you require.

You will also need to set up with a Pharmacy to purchase your products and consumables. We have excellent connections to PharmacySpace; an independent pharmacy who’s vision is to provide a cost-effective and trusted service for your aesthetic clinic supplies. Find out here why PharmacySpace should be your chosen aesthetic pharmacy.

Step 6 – Start Practicing

So you’ve completed your training, you’ve got your insurance in place, you’ve received your delivery of Botox and Dermal Fillers. Now it’s time to start practicing. We can’t emphasise enough how important it is that you begin practicing as soon as possible after your Foundation training. The new skills will be fresh in your mind and as the old saying goes; practice makes perfect!

Step 7 – Continued Professional Development

We strongly encourage all delegates to return for further Botox and Dermal Filler training as soon as they can. Our bespoke one-to-one sessions can be arranged on a day to suit you and allow you to practice at your own speed, supervised by one of our trainers. As this will be on a one-to-one basis you can ask all the questions you need and the training day can be tailored to your requirements. Most of our delegates complete 4 hours of this one-to-one training initially, covering the basic Botox and Dermal Filler techniques on models provided by us. This one-to-one training is undeniably the best way to boost your confidence ensuring safe practice.

We also have a range of Advanced Botox and Dermal Filler courses that can be completed at a later date once you feel confident with the basic treatments.

Don’t expect to be able to know everything straight away. Our most successful Aesthetic Nurses complete further training courses every few months to ensure they stay on top of best practice techniques and new procedures available. Aesthetic training is a journey, not just a one day course.

Step 8 – Start Building your Business

With added confidence from your one-to-one training you can now start building up your clientele. We understand that this can be quite daunting at first but we have a host of support options in place to help you set up your business.

On completion of your training you are provided with clinic templates for medical history, patient registration and treatment plans which you can adapt for your business. We also have a variety of business and marketing blogs and podcasts which offer some helpful tips on how to start an aesthetic clinic.

We highly recommend becoming a member of SaveFace; the impartial accreditation scheme which aims to assist new aesthetic practitioners as they set up their business offering advice, guidance and best practice tips along the way.

From here, the aesthetic world is your oyster!

See our full list of aesthetic courses for nurses by clicking here! 

Botox courses for nurses 

Check out our Online Academy

We hope this has helped you work out whether aesthetic nurse training is the right option for you and if you have any questions on any of the steps above please don’t hesitate to contact our dedicated support team who will be more than happy to answer these for you.