Research Strategy Will Support Nurses in Aesthetic Medicine
A THMA initiative to create a strategic research committee aims to help establish best practices in aesthetic medicine, promote professional development, and advance educational resources for nurses in the specialty.
A conscientious mission of THMA is to raise the bar in aesthetic medicine through education and promotion of safe and ethical practices. This professional committee, led by Jennifer Splane NP, will contribute to the advancement of aesthetic medicine practice through evidence-based research.
“Patient care remains at the forefront of our purpose,” says Jennifer, a dedicated Nurse Practitioner specializing in aesthetic medicine at J'adore Medical Aesthetics in Rothesay, NB. “As with all things THMA, the focus always remains on improving patient care and outcomes.”
The committee research work will be published in order to benefit the nurses in general and the specialty as a whole. As Jennifer says, our objective is to “develop a research strategy that will guide all of our work.” This work will support everyone in aesthetic medicine, and not just nurses who have training with THMA.
“I think we have a great opportunity to engage in research beyond clinical trials. Our goal is to fill some of those glaring gaps in aesthetic medicine evidence – and many of those gaps involve the nurse as the clinician.”
Collaborative Research
Jennifer’s extensive education, training, and work-related experience in the world of research has equipped her to lead the team. She’s also now doing her PhD at Dalhousie University. Jennifer will have my full support as well as research assistance from Mia Ippoliti, an aesthetic medicine nurse and manager at The Cosmetic Clinic in Ottawa. We’ll also have several dedicated aesthetic medicine colleagues contributing as authors on articles related to the research strategy.
“Research is not conducted in silos,” Jennifer rightly points out. “It involves many heads, and lots of difference expertise. I am excited to be able to support and collaborate with a wide variety of clinicians.”
The committee’s three research projects and resultant papers are as follows:
- Infection Prevention in Aesthetic Medicine - What We Learned Post-Pandemic. Authors: Morgan Ulhman MacLeod, Stacy Lillington, Roselyn Castaneda and Tracey Hotta.
This research is well underway and will be the first article published. It’s interesting what we learned during COVID and how safety precautions then are still advisable today. A good example would be the wearing of masks while doing treatments. Generally, this wasn’t done before the pandemic, but it’s now acknowledged as a clinical practice that better promotes patient safety.
The research team will present more finding and lessons on how to better protect patients and nurses. That includes the examination and sharing of college standards, public health protocols and national infection prevent and control guidelines.
- Motivating Factors for Choosing a Career in Aesthetic Medicine. Authors: Belita Savage and Jennifer Splane.
Research is currently underway on why nurses want to get into aesthetic medicine. Is it because of the money or is it because they want to help people? Is it because they want to be in independent practice or is it for a better work-life balance? We are examining many factors that could shape a decision to launch a career in aesthetic medicine, whether independently at a home office or in a clinic, and look forward to sharing this research.
- Social Media in Aesthetic Medicine - Experiences and Perceptions of Nurses. Authors: Jennifer Splane, Mia Ippoliti and Tracey Hotta.
This timely research takes a deep dive into the marketing benefits of social media as well as the problematic pitfalls of aesthetic nurses on social media platforms. The team will thoroughly examine how social media can serve us well in aesthetic medicine and where harm can be done to individual reputations and the specialty itself. The goal is to use this evidence-based research to improve our overall professional presence on social media.
For both this and the ‘Motivating Factors’ research project, the team will apply to a Research Ethics Board (REB) that reviews research projects to ensure they are ethical and protect the rights of participants. Since we are including a survey of human subjects, we need to ensure we are following the ethics guidelines.
Room for Improvement
While aesthetic medicine is steadily becoming more professional, there is always room for improvements. Research and articles are in demand by professional providers who want to uphold high standards of patient care and outcomes.
In the earliest days of aesthetics, the specialty was very regimented, very controlled by physicians. But as demand for Botox and other treatments went up, more people went into the specialty. They were trained, but not in a good way. They weren’t learning about college recommendations and adverse events, for example, and social media was somewhat out of control.
We lost a good degree of the public’s respect as a result. Those of us who have worked hard to develop higher standards of patient safety were upset and frustrated by these outliers.
But things are changing. More patients want providers with credentials and good training. It’s also encouraging to read about suspensions and fines for professional misconduct. A case in point comes from the Discipline Committee of the College of Nurses of Ontario, which recently found a RPN in Mississauga committed many acts of “professional misconduct as provided by subsection 51(1)(c) of the Health Professions Procedural Code of the Nursing Act, 1991.” This resulted in a license suspension of her cosmetic nursing services for 4 months and an order to post notice of practice restrictions for 12 months.
"The penalty sends a strong message to the Member, and the membership as a whole, that
engaging in controlled acts without proper authorization and failing to maintain the standards
of practice for assessment and documentation will not be tolerated. Confidence in the nursing
profession and protection of public safety will be strengthened by this message."
Misconduct such as this, in clinics and on social media, is what motivates us to do this supportive research, and perhaps help prevent issues from becoming serious problems. Informing professional providers on knowledge, standards and requirements will help us all strengthen and promote nurses in aesthetic medicine.
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MARCH 15 UPDATE - We have started another research study on Elevating the Standards of Aesthetic Medicine that looks at qualifications for nurses taking a training program in aesthetic medicine. This fills another gap as there is very little research on this now for nurses. Researchers and article authors are Mara Langevin NP, Shay Bloo RPN and Tracey Hotta RN.