How Do I Choose My Aesthetics Nurse?
Tracey Dennison
I want to tell you about a silly decision I made whilst on holiday.
I decided to go for a run around the local area, running from our hotel about three quarters of a mile down the road towards the sports facility. From our balcony I could see the sports field which has got football pitches tennis courts and a running track on it so I thought it would be safe to run to.
We had been there as a family a few days before so I felt quite safe and thought I knew the area; however, I hadn’t really done my homework! When I got to the sports centre, I decided to run right round the perimeter rather than on the running track, which turned out to be a really good decision. About halfway around the perimeter I heard dogs barking in the distance. I wasn’t too worried as it wasn’t unreasonable to think that somebody might be out walking their dogs at that time in the morning, so I carried on running.
About five minutes later and I’m now around 75% of the way around the perimeter, three huge dogs appeared, barking and running towards me! They clearly didn’t have anybody with them and looked to be running free. I was very scared! I’m a bit scared of dogs at the best of times and realised at this moment, I was completely alone. I wasn’t far from our apartment, my husband could just about see me from our balcony but there was nothing at all he could do to help me from there.
I was very lucky that I had decided to run around the perimeter of the field (which was outside of the fence) rather than on the running track which was inside of the fence. As the dogs had managed to find their way inside there was a barrier between us which allowed me to pick up the pace, pray they couldn’t find their way out, and make my way as quickly as I could back towards the hotel.
What did strike me was that I really hadn’t got familiar with the environment before I embarked on my journey. Later I googled what lives in the mountains where we were and scared myself even more, bears and wolves are the norm apparently!
It also struck me that the same approach is so often the perspective when people first consider having aesthetic treatments. Not being aware of the risks of treatments can cause people to make unwise decisions about their treating practitioner. It is so important to make sure you know what your treatments involve, the risks concerned and that you are having treatments from regulated registered healthcare professionals who will be held accountable and have a duty of care to their patient (so really doctors, nurses or dentists). These are the only people who should be administering these treatments, because from a safety perspective, the medical practitioner needs to be able to reverse or manage any complications which result as a consequence of the treatment.
It’s very easy to get excited about a cheap deal and see a clear path to getting an easy result; like I did when I went for this run along what I thought was a safe route. However, be careful, know what treatment you are having, understand the benefits and the risks that you are consenting to. Make sure that you are prepared to accept these benefits and risks should they happen to you; even the best practitioner in the world is susceptible to complications. Make sure you know they will look after you, make sure they are capable of managing difficulties, ensure you do your homework. Do not leave yourself vulnerable; a cheap deal may sound great however, will you be taken care of if there are complications? Is the practitioner you have chosen skilled to manage complications? If you practitioner is not a registered health professional, they have no legal duty of care to you. By the time you have paid for corrections or immediate action needed, as well as endured the resulting psychological trauma, a cheap deal won’t seem so cheap after all. So, be more careful then I was going for a run in a foreign country on my own! Do your homework, be careful and be prepared to take good care of yourself, actually you are worth it!