RN-14 Sareena Patel, BSN, RN
Sareena is an aesthetic injector in Charlotte, NC and Fredericksburg, VA.
Location: Charlotte, NC & Fredericksburg, VA
Nursing Specialty: Aesthetic Injector
Years of Experience: 4
What nursing degree do you have?
Undergrad - double major in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience & Psychology from Virginia Tech
ABSN (16 mo) from Duke University
Where did you start as a nurse and what is your current role?
I started at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital as a Pediatric Transplant nurse, and worked there for 3 years. I worked part time as a nurse injector during the last 2 years at Georgetown. I’ve been working full time as a nurse injector for over a year.
Can you explain your field of nursing?
An aesthetic nurse injector specializes in administering cosmetic treatments, such as neurotoxins, dermal fillers, biostimulators, threads, laser treatments, chemical peels, microneedling and other facial rejuvenation treatments. Our job is to utilize these modalities synergistically to address the client’s aesthetic concerns, enhance facial features and signs of aging. It is required to have advanced training in facial anatomy, technical injecting skills, product knowledge and safety skills. I currently work in a medical spa, but nurses also work in dermatology clinics, plastic surgery practices, or other aesthetic medicine facilities under supervision of a physician.
The most important part is shepherding those to see have confidence in both their inner beauty and outer beauty. Injecting is liberating for me, because it feeds a fervor of building a strong self-esteem in others. My goal is for you to love you. That's it.
What does a typical day at your job look like?
My schedule varies, being a mix of all types of appointments. Every new client I see will come in for a full facial assessment, after which we can develop an individualized treatment plan. I will get to work early to prep, stock my room, and start patient charting. I can see anywhere from 10 to 20 clients a day, but that really depends on the service they’re booked for. When I see clients I like to give them my full attention, so getting little things like paper work, pre and post care instructions, etc make a huge difference. In between clients I'm catching up on charting, working with the team of estheticians, my self education, and working on social media. I never realized how much of this job is marketing and education so I try to provide a direct avenue out there to help debunk a lot of myths, and provide insight to this exponentially growing billion-dollar industry.
What are your typical hours?
I currently work 4 days a week, on weekdays and every other weekend. About 35 hours a week.
What advice would you give for nurses/nursing students interested in a similar position?
Don’t go straight into aesthetics. - I knew I wanted to get into aesthetics when I was in nursing school, but it was not acknowledged as a true “nursing” career by most nursing schools. Another passion, pediatrics, was an incredibly helpful experience to have before transitioning full time into aesthetics. This career path is not one that you should start out of nursing school, it is critical that you have on-floor experience. Most aesthetic nurses have a background in ICU/Trauma, ED and OR. This job comes with a lot of autonomy. You have to have the technical skills of a surgeon, mindset of an anesthesiologist, compassion of a pediatrician, and the eye of an artist. Skipping this experience will manifest in your practice as an aesthetic injector, and you don’t want to be in that position.
Work your a** off. - I spent almost a year calling and applying before getting my first job. Spend that time educating yourself, understanding individual anatomy via cadavers, the product themselves, safety protocols and the science of aging.
Be prepared to spend a lot of $$$. - Most of my training has been out of pocket, and has cost me thousands . You are never “fully trained” because there is so much to learn and so many new techniques. Each year I still invest in my training and it’s important that every injector does.
Don’t go into this for the money. - It takes a while to see the return of your hard work. It’s so rewarding when it happens, but this career is best as a passion, not just a day time job.
Find a mentor. - Having a mentor is so helpful in guiding you through this process. Whether that be training, consulting or troubleshooting, working with an experienced injector is a necessity.
How do you recharge or deal with burnout bas a nurse?
I think there’s two types of burnout that people often lump together. One being physical but the other being emotional. After working during COVID, mostly night shifts and a lot of overtime… I was responsible for a good amount of my own physical burnout. I loved my floor, and loved my team so picking up overtime was a win-win for me. My advice… don’t do that unless you’re extremely tight for money. Preserve your health, you have a lifetime to work. Physical recharging was a lot easier for me… I made sure I was sleeping, exercising, eating well-ish and taking weeks off for vacations whether I was actually going somewhere or not. The emotional burnout was the hardest for me to deal with, and honestly I still am. Spending the majority of my time in hospital seeing the kids you’ve known for years die is something I don’t wish on anyone, but unfortunately it does come with the job. You can never be fully prepared for this, but you can build your support team for when it does happen. My advice, start therapy, find healthy ways to de-stress and find a friend in nursing who will relate to you.
The aesthetic industry has allowed me the space to recharge and heal from both. I love being able to go home and sleep at night, spend time with loved ones, focus on my health and have a routine.
What’s one secret nursing tip you’ve learned?
Life is difficult when you work alone.
What’s one change you would like to see in the nursing world?
After COVID, nurses started getting the respect they have deserved for a long time… but only from the outside world. I would love to see hospitals providing more support for nurses… better pay, safe staffing, safe workplaces, free therapy. Nurses are asking for the bare minimum, I would love to see those needs being met.
What’s your dream nursing position?
I’m in it baby, and loving every minute of it! In the future I hope to be my own girl boss and open up my own Medical Spa, but until then I’m excited for where my career is going and working towards that goal.
What’s one work item you can’t live without?
My soft-touch insulin syringes for Botox, iykyk
Follow Sareena’s journey!
insta: injectorsareena
Tiktok: glogettersclt