Spa+Clinic Team 
ACCS general manager Jenny Vallance, president Dr Soo-Keat Lim and nurse representative Elissa O’Keefe
The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS)* today released the new Professional Practice Standards and Scope of Practice for Aesthetic Nursing Practice in Australia at the Cosmetex 2015 conference in Melbourne.
This draft consultation standard is the first of its kind in Australia, setting the benchmark for nursing care in the rapidly evolving field of cosmetic medicine and surgery.
ACCS nursing representative, nurse practitioner Elissa O’Keefe, said that it would improve standards of care and could be used for recruiting new staff, developing position descriptions, professional development planning and performance appraisal.
‘Nurses are an integral part of the health team and this gives clear guidance for nurses, doctors and their patients about what an expected standard of care is,’ said ACCS President Dr Soo-Keat Lim.
Copies of the Professional Practice Standards and Scope of Practice for Aesthetic Nursing Practice in Australia are available from the ACCS.
* The ACCS is a not-for-profit, multi-disciplinary fellowship based body of cosmetic surgeons, cosmetic physicians, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, dermatologists, ear nose and throat surgeons, ophthalmologists and other doctors and health care practitioners who practice in cosmetic medicine and surgery. The primary goal of the ACCS is to ensure the safe provision of cosmetic medicine and cosmetic surgical procedures to the Australian community through the supply of appropriately trained and certified health care practitioners. Its Fellows and spokespeople are regularly quoted in the media and consulted by Commonwealth and state health and consumer regulators as authoritative sources of information and expert opinion. The ACCS is the only medical college which provides education and training leading to fellowship specifically in cosmetic medicine and surgery. Fellows of the College are medical doctors who have completed post-graduate education and training and demonstrated competency specifically in cosmetic medicine and surgery.
** The ACCS Code of Practice, which was authorised by the ACCC in June 2009, provides patients with greater protection than that found in regulation or other guidelines. The Code of Practice covers advertising and other promotional conduct, informed consent guidelines, monitoring of the code and an extensive governance regime.
