Around this time of year, aesthetic clinics usually swell with patients getting ready for Christmas, but how can services be marketed in a way that brings in customers, while still remaining professional? The Keogh review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions says, ‘Advertising and marketing practices should not trivialise the seriousness of procedures or encourage people to undergo them hastily’ (Department of Health and Social Care, 2013). Therefore, bundle packages, competitions or ‘mate's rates’ should not be offered by clinics.
The most wonderful time of the year
While we are nurses first and foremost, we are also businesspeople and have businesses to run. Christmas is an opportunity to meet, greet, treat and retain existing patients and open doors to new patients. Offering leverage on retail sales is a start, as well as promoting endeavors to meet party preparation deadlines.
However, it is not just about aesthetic treatments; there are creams, lotions and potions, gift cards, vouchers, membership cards and even Christmas sun creams for those lucky enough to be seeking out of season sunshine.
Cosmeceutical companies are keen to provide clinics with ready-to-go boxes of skincare, some in travel sized bottles, but it is just as easy for clinics to make up their own with carefully chosen gift boxes, tissue paper and ribbon. Plus, popping in a discount voucher for complimentary skin products is especially useful if the set is a gift as it may encourage a new patient to visit the clinic.
Vouchers have proved most useful when purchased over the phone and there are many printing companies that can easily make them up at quite little expense. If having gift cards made up, ensure to incorporate the company logo, address and social media info (the best size for this is 300dpi JPEGs).
Adhering to advertising regulations
Be mindful that clinics and practitioners cannot advertise prescription only medicines such as toxins, but there are many other treatments that can be included that will cover a wide range of options, for example: treatments for lax skin, anti-ageing, skin health, peels, radiofrequency skin tightening, skin remodeling (such as skin boosters) and even cellulite treatments for the ‘post-Christmas bulge’.
Standing out from the crowd
As regulated medical professionals, aesthetic nurses must remain professional at all times. It was not long ago that practitioners could solely rely on just professional reputation as a differentiation to bring in patients, but the boundaries seem to be more blurred now and the public are confused. Social media throws out a plethora of non-medical personnel who may allude to having a medical qualification or certificate and who market cut-price treatments, most of which should be under the guardianship of a medical professional. However, practitioners must continue to demonstrate in their marketing why a regulated professional, such as a nurse, is a safe choice—it is our expertise, registration, duty of care and professional code of conduct that we can use as a driver of our marketing. Ensure that your full name, as it is on the NMC register, is on your website and include your NMC PIN. Be transparent—list your qualifications and your aesthetic CV, the courses you have attended and your continuing professional development. As professional medical providers in commercial aesthetic businesses, specific challenges are experienced; we are bound by legal and ethical constraints and our consumers are often unaware of their own lack of knowledge. It is this lack of knowledge that can lead them to unscrupulous clinics who market their services just to please their customers and there is currently very little legislation to prevent this or penalise them. As competition intensifies, it is very easy to lose sight of the most important element of the profession: the patient.
Code of conduct
Our code of conduct, which is in the process of being rewritten, ensures we do not mislead or even potentially harm our patients, so this ensures our marketing activities stay within their boundaries. The British Association of Cosmetic Nurses (BACN) is working closely with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to ensure that, as aesthetic professionals, we stay within legal and professional boundaries.
The association strongly encourages self-regulation, as this is a benchmark for a recognised profession, and the NMC steers us this way. It is essential that the aesthetic standards that have been written to date are accessible, clear and understood. The BACN competencies, currently being rewritten, and to be published in 2020, encompass new modalities and will enable aesthetic nurses to map their practice at varying levels of expertise, up to an advanced nurse level. The BACN membership scheme offers support, reflection and learning through its peers and trusted partners, and are working towards recognition of this ongoing specialisation of aesthetic practice with the NMC.
Our association provides opportunities for peer-to-peer reviews in the way of regional meetings, while also working towards an identified structure of novice to senior practitioners, with competencies being redesigned and offers available for shadowing schemes and reflective discussion. Additionally, all BACN members have the opportunity to gain CPD points and there is also the option to undertake free basic life support training.
It is this self-regulation that can not only help to avoid legal and ethical difficulties, but also provides a quality framework. The BACN strongly adheres to its commitment of educating the public and helping members remain transparent with regional updates, newsletters and a huge, professionally run annual conference with many external speakers.
The latest BACN conference
The BACN's latest conference was held at Edgebaston Stadium in Birmingham over 2 days in mid-November and was a huge success. The first day saw the Professional Sessions Symposium filled with many speakers covering workshops on a huge range of topics, including: the prevention, identification and management of complications, body dysmorphia (very apt, as recent legal cases are looking for documentation to demonstrate consideration and diagnosis on why a patient is seeking treatment, with the most important advice: to document when a patient has been declined treatment), a fantastic practical demonstration on the global approach to facial restoration, a very comprehensive and lively discussion on VAT updates, details on how to combine treatments and increase patient retention and also a very interesting and interactive session on toxin for migraines.
The second day (free to all BACN members) saw a more formal event with updates from Paul Burgess (CEO) and Sharon Bennett (Chair) on the increasing role the BACN is playing in professionalising nursing in aesthetics. One of the highlights was Dr Lee Walker's talk on anatomical considerations that can help avoid dermal filler complications, which was supported by real cases. Anna Baker and Mel Recchia, both BACN nurses, spoke on strategies to treat the ageing neck and artistry with the use of toxins, respectively. Attendees were especially grateful to Charles East, whose talk preceded a roundtable discussion on non-surgical rhinoplasty, as well as who, what and where to treat.
‘Goodwill to all men’
Finally, during this season of ‘goodwill to all men’, we can renew our commitment to our patients and invest in their education by taking time to explain who we are and how and why we work in this way. This building of trust will help to avoid misunderstandings between the practitioner and patient.
By promoting and advertising our commitment to educate and protect patients, we work to steadfastly ensure rigor and transparency of the profession we so robustly declare our own.