Annual conference: 26th and 27th of September
We returned with our dedicated and largest annual aesthetic nurses conference to the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on the 26th and 27th of September. We curated an outstanding agenda with many skilled and experienced practitioners who shared their knowledge and expertise in the field of aesthetic medicine through lectures and demonstrations. We anticipated our largest attendance numbers to date and all attendees received refreshments, a warm lunch, goodie bags, and opportunity to attend our evening drinks reception, which was all included within the conference ticket. Agenda topics included; lifting, shaping and slimming the face using neuromodulation (live demonstration), mastering the lower face: a journey through age, genetics and psychology, bovine colostrum exosomes, menopause and the skin, as well as the NMC discussion to understand views on remote prescribing of non-surgical aesthetic medicines. This session was led by Anne Trotter, Assistant Director for Education & Standards at the Nursing & Midwifery Council.
The conference was open to registered nurses, doctors & dentists.
Education & training committee
Our Education & Training committee is Chaired by Rachel Goddard, and Vice Chair Anna Baker. The committee is working hard on a number of key projects. One of the most exciting collaborative areas of work is the development of a number of on-going projects with The British Dermatological Nursing Group, who have also been actively involved in peer-review and endorsement of the BAMAN Career & Competency Framework, which includes their accredited Dermatology Nurse Framework within the extensive update. In addition, the BDNG are hosting their first Dermatology Study Day which has been curated especially for medical aesthetic nurses with a fantastic agenda focused on key areas of Dermatology, with most relevant to day to day medical aesthetic nurse practice. The event is free from commercial influence and independently delivered with a heavily subsidised fee for aesthetic nurse attendees. The ticket price also includes 1 years' membership to the BDNG and is being held in London on 23 November. Tickets can be purchased at:
https://bdng.org.uk/meetings/dermatology-for-aesthetic-nurse-conference/
Rachel Goddard & Anna Baker were also invited to participate in a collaborative BAMAN & BDNG podcast, hosted by BDNG. It is currently being edited and will be available to listen to shortly. BACN have also contributed and been featured in each quarterly issue of the BDNG member journal discussing the heritage of BAMAN (Sharon Bennett), the work of the Education & Training Committee (Rachel Goddard), and the rewrite/extensive update of the Career & Competency Framework (Anna Baker). This is the beginning of an exciting journey of 2 professional associations working together to facilitate outstanding educational opportunities to our memberships. The committee is also working hard on guidelines for medical aesthetic nurses on undertaking research as well as peer review and critiquing literature. Rachel Goddard and Anna Baker will be presenting an overview of the committee objectives and projects at the forthcoming BAMAN annual conference.
Association name change-British Association of Medical Aesthetic Nurses
The landscape in the field of Medical Aesthetics and Nursing presents many challenges in terms of patient safety and standards of care. BAMAN continues to champion the medical approach to the patient journey in an increasingly complex sector, and work hard to address many of these issues. In October 2023, BAMAN submitted a detailed response to the government consultation on the proposed licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. The consultation provided a timely new impetus from specialist nurses to outline many areas of concerns, and to uphold patient safety, robustly underpinned by evidence. The legal Standard of Care is anchored through BAMAN's response, reinforcing the importance of a medical approach to the patient's journey of care.
BAMAN's position is clear in that to practice medical aesthetics safely and effectively, the requirement should be to demonstrate a broad range of additional clinical skills in addition to the administration of medical aesthetic procedures. A registered nurse practicing such specialised treatments is required to continually exercise a unique & multi-faceted clinical judgement, and skillset, often in complex scenarios, which are unique to our specialism. Considering this, a registered nurse is required to demonstrate not only an awareness, but knowledge and accountability of the moral, ethical, clinical, legal, and professional aspects of medical aesthetic practice.
The name Cosmetic Nurse is a misnomer, as our specialist aesthetic practice is rooted in medicine, and anchored in patient safety, which is over-arching to the breadth of the medical aesthetic speciality. Registered nurses are mandated to deliver the Legal Standard of Care and bound by a Duty of Care as well as professional statutory guidance to be held accountable to. In light of these essential essentials that constitute nurse's day to day practice, BAMAN held an EGM and membership vote on the 12.07.2024 to pass a resolution that the members of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (limited by guarantee) (BACN) support a name change to the British Association of Medical Aesthetic Nurses (BAMAN).
The vote was passed by a strong majority vote in favour of the name change. This will more appropriately reflect who BAMAN are and supports the holistic and safe medical approach to patient care.
Aside from the name change, our association is growing exponentially, and we continue to work closely with our colleagues across the sector, educational committees, government, British Standards Institute Non-Surgical Medical Standard, and other stakeholders, including the NMC and RCN, to ensure that nurses working in medical aesthetic practice, can deliver exceptional standards of care.
