We LOVED Malinda's feature in SPA + CLINIC. Read more below!

My nursing career expands over 33 years and I have loved every single minute of it. I did my nursing training in Ballarat and was included in the very first intake of nurses to commence studying away from a hospital setting at Aquinas College, which later went on to become Australian Catholic University, ACU. My late grandfather, uncles and dad helped build the university where I completed my three years of training.

After successfully completing the perioperative nursing course at Ballarat Base Hospital. was approached to work privately for two senior orthopaedic surgeons. I worked in their rooms for four years and it included pre- and post operative patient care, assisting them in theatre doing elective surgery and some trauma work as well.

I moved to Melbourne in 1998, aged 28, and was very fortunate to commence work within the Victorian Plastic Surgery Unit (VPSU), a wonderful institution that trained plastic surgeons to be the best at what they do. A couple years later, I was approached by a plastic surgeon to work privately at his day surgery, which became Windsor Private Hospital. I became the Director of Nursing and I still work there as an evening coordinator after hours providing patient care when I'm not injecting.

Injectable training was once a little different...

While working at the plastic surgeons rooms, I was fortunate to be sponsored by him to train with Allergan in injectables. There was no charge tor the training as you had to be working privately with a plastic surgeon and approved to attend. The training consisted of four hours one evening learning how to do dermal filler, followed by four hours the following week teaching me how to do anti-wrinkle injections - and that was it. Needless to say, 13 years later, I'm still attending training sessions and perfecting what I do.

Years later I was very fortunate to be approached by my BDM at Allergan to apply for a job at an unknown place called Laser Clinics Australia (LCA) as they were expanding into Victoria. As most of you would know they have since gone on to become the largest injecting chain in the world. I worked with them tor five years and was invited to join their medical advisory board representing Victoria, which had meetings that were held in Sydney every three months. I loved my time there, I learnt so much, and I have made many friends Australia-wide that I will keep for life. I am very fortunate and honoured to have won Injector of the year at the LCA clinics in 2017 and again in 2020, then one month after winning the award in 2020, Covid hit, and my contract was terminated indefinitely. In June 2020, when Melbourne was allowed to reopen and have people return to work in the cosmetic space, I bravely decided to commence working for myself. That was over three years ago and it has been a very positive experience and I'm busier than I'd imagined.

The perks of being self employed

I thoroughly enjoy working for myself full time six days a week as I am extremely self-motivated. I get to control all the little things that keep me happy so that I can stay focused on doing the best job I can looking after patients.

The music, temperature, lighting, stock levels, cleanliness and atmosphere are always perfect. I am fortunate to be able to work within the Fresh Clinics group of nurses: they are such a friendly positive group that enables me to do my job well and remain compliant within national standards. I am also a member of AMET which is a wonderful resource for all cosmetic injectors. My previous experience of having worked closely with most of Melbourne's senior plastic surgeons, as well as some orthopaedic surgeons, has strongly influenced my everyday work practices. I have a solid understanding of keeping my work patient focused as well as understanding the stress of running a business. The highlight of my career was working privately with Dr Brian Mendelson at his Toorak clinic, his attention to detail and drive for perfection to always do the very best you can has been such a great inspiration to me. My perioperative experience has trained me in infection control and enabled me to plan an entire procedure before I commence it.

Never stop learning

I keep myself educated with developments within the industry by attending every event possible. Networking is important part of the job as it is beneficial to be a helpful resource to my patients with evidenced based information. I fortunately re-attended the national conference ROAR (sponsored by Venus and Envouge) earlier this year. The teams behind ROAR have graciously provided me the opportunity to be interviewed for this article

I believe all my patients know that I'II confidently postpone a procedure if it is not required, if the patient has limited funding, if the patient has medical comorbidities, or if the patent may be travelling overseas within a short period time. I don't take a deposit for patient bookings nor charge a cancellation fee as I like to make sure that all my patients feel confident during my consultation that there's no pressure to proceed with any treatment on the day.

The advice I would give younger nurses starting out within the industry is to keep knocking on all doors if it is a career that you believe you would like to pursue. I view my role of treating patients very seriously, I treat every person individually and I have a philosophy that all of my patients know well: "less is more".

Congratulations Malinda on your success in the industry - we are so beyond proud to represent you & be featured in this piece as part of your journey.