It Takes Heart
It Takes Heart is an unmissable podcast where healthcare workers share their honest and unique experiences from Australia’s frontline.
Discover real-life stories of passion and purpose, insight and inspiration from people on the inside and tales that are equal parts heart-warming, heart-wrenching and hilarious. It Takes Heart is co-hosted by cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment CEO Samantha Miklos and Head of Talent and Employer Branding Kate Coomber.
It Takes Heart
29. Three Hard Truths from Bek Woodbine on Burnout, Nurse Culture & Ethical Aesthetics
Content warning: This episode includes discussions of alcoholism, depression, and occasional course language, which may be sensitive for some listeners.
What happens when a nurse known for looking after everyone else hits her own breaking point? For Bek Woodbine (Nurse Practitioner, host of podcast Tenderness for Nurses, and founder of a successful aesthetic clinic), it started with shaking hands and overwhelming anxiety. In a healthcare culture that rewards overwork and masks burnout with 'just one more drink,' Bek chose a different path.
Bek shares how she stepped away from clinical work, navigated anxiety and depression, and what six years of sobriety has taught her about resilience and self-leadership. She speaks openly about fatigue mismanagement in healthcare, the stigma nurses face when speaking up, and why great leadership starts with boundaries and care.
We also explore the aesthetic industry’s shift toward trends over ethics, and why Bek champions a skin first approach. This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt stretched too thin or is searching for a more sustainable way to care, for others and for themselves.
More about Bek's Organisation of Choice, FARE.
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) is a not-for-profit organisation with a vision for an Australia free from alcohol harms – where communities are healthy and well, and where laws, policies and programs are fair, equitable and just.
Follow Bek's podcast Tenderness For Nurses on Instagram.
It Takes Heart is hosted by cmr CEO Sam Miklos, alongside Head of Talent and Employer Branding, Kate Coomber.
We Care; Music by Waveney Yasso
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Follow @ittakesheartpodcast on Instagram, @cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment on Linked In, @cornerstonemedicalrec on TikTok and @CornerstoneMedicalRecruitment on Facebook.
When the very systems we work in don't promote self-care, how can we genuinely create happy healthcare communities?
Bek Woodbine:But one of the nurses was telling me that she had just done a 12-hour shift. Then they asked her to do an 8-hour shift, after which she said yes to, and then they wanted her to turn around and do an early. And I said to her where's the fatigue management in this? But I said to her if you make a drug error, whose fault will it be? And she said to her if you make a drug error, whose fault will it be? And she said, oh, it'd be mine. I said would the hospital support you?
Kate Coomber:She said probably not. If you're loving these episodes, don't forget to click, follow and subscribe, and follow us on Instagram for all the behind-the-scenes fun.
Sam Miklos:So today we're joined by Bec Woodbine, host of Tenderness for Nurses podcast and founder of Perfectly Smooth, Brisbane's premier medical beauty clinic. Bec is a passionate advocate for nurse self-care and fostering a culture of compassion among healthcare workers. In her own podcast, Bec creates a safe space for her guests to share their own journey, and today we feel so lucky to have her here to share her journey with us. Welcome back to. It Takes Heart.
Bek Woodbine:Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm actually very excited to be on the other side of the microphone today, albeit a little bit nervous, because it's just a little bit different when you're not in this, you know driving seat.
Sam Miklos:So it makes us feel better. We've been terrified about today. We've been so nervous and because we've had to keep moving it, I've had the shingles and I think you lost your voice one time as well, so it's been pushing it down, appreciate you coming in, but it's the right timing. Yes, yes. Today is when it was meant to be. We'll have our best conversation.
Kate Coomber:Definitely so. We'd love to. I know that I discovered your podcast before us doing this, and what led you to start I know that you talked about Rock Bottom brought you to the podcast in one of those first episodes.
Bek Woodbine:Can you talk to us a little bit about that I had wanted to do a podcast for a long time and I thought initially it would be more about the aesthetic space, but there's so many podcasts out there about that and, to be quite honest, it's really boring. So I'd had my own journey with stopping drinking, with burnout getting to the stage where I didn't want to go into work, had to take a year off work but run the business from behind, which had its own challenges. Year off work and but run the business from behind, which had its own challenges. And I'm someone that says if.
Bek Woodbine:I'm going to do something. I do it, and I actually spoke to a friend of mine, katie Matton, who was also, you know she they own Podshape yeah and she said just do it, bec, just do it. And so I did. I just got in touch with a whole heap of friends, colleagues, people that I knew would have really interesting stories, and they all said yes, they all came in.
Bek Woodbine:You had the network I had the network and I have had some and it gives me goosebumps. Remarkable. They've all been remarkable, but there are some that have shared such intimate, beautiful details of themselves and you know my listeners get to hear that and the response has been so many people come back and go. Oh my God, that is exactly how I felt, or you helped me navigate through a really rough time, or the interesting thing is probably the number of people that reach out to me now about stopping drinking. That's huge.
Kate Coomber:So can you talk a little bit because again you know you're the host and interviewing all of these people. And you're again sharing their stories. You know to talk about you and your own personal experience. What is it? You know what did that look like for you, because we've done a lot of episodes. Now we're talking a lot about burnout and a lot of people feeling it, and it's more prevalent than ever. What did that look like for you to bring you to that stopping point?
Bek Woodbine:I was. I had no boundaries. I said yes to everybody.
Sam Miklos:Was that in work and personally as well?
Bek Woodbine:both yeah, more work.
Kate Coomber:I couldn't say no to patients. It wasn't when you were hospital nursing.
Bek Woodbine:It was no, but even hospital nursing. I would be that person that they would ask to do over time because, I'd always say yes. I got to the stage and I remember this beautiful client came in and I started to develop horrendous anxiety, terrible anxiety. And she came in and this one day I couldn't stop shaking and I couldn't inject her, and it wasn't from anything other than I was so anxious and I couldn't even tell you why I was anxious.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, it wasn't like anything was happening that day.
Bek Woodbine:No, no, but it's like everything in life, nothing just sort of happens on its own. There were quite a few things that were happening all at once and it just got to the point I couldn't cope with it all. And it was at that point, you know, I sort of stepped away, took some time out. It has taken a long time to work through burnout and anxiety, and I do see a psychiatrist because my anxiety was so bad and actually I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. So then I started treatments with that and I've been a different person. But it's something I have to work on all the time.
Kate Coomber:And how did that feel to get that diagnosis?
Sam Miklos:Being a healthcare worker particularly too.
Bek Woodbine:It was actually very confronting, very confronting. And the treatment I had I'd never even heard of it TMS, which is transcranial magnetic sequencing but it changed my life and interestingly, there's a laser company that's bringing out a lower level of TMS into the wellness space, of which I am highly opposed to because I have to. When you have those sort of treatments you know I'm under the care of a psychiatrist I was gonna say talk us through what is yeah so TMS, you have to have a threshold testing.
Bek Woodbine:So it's like a big magnet sits on your head and it sends pulses down into your brain. So left side's depression, right side anxiety I think both are PTSD and pain is your M1, which sits along the top of your head, and actually my pain specialist, because I have recently had back surgery he's looking at getting a TMS machine for pain and it has improved my pain since going back and having some TMS again. But what it does is you can have seizures with it. So usually it is done under the care of a registered nurse, under the supervision of a psychiatrist. Prior to COVID, you had to go in to hospital to have it done, but now they're setting up clinics and now one of the laser companies is out there promoting it and Gwyneth Paltrow just put something up on her website or Instagram about trying it and I just see.
Sam Miklos:That's so irresponsible.
Bek Woodbine:So it's so irresponsible and you know people. You can't be taking drugs. There's certain drugs you can't be on. You can't be using recreational drugs. When you have these treatments, someone who may be misdiagnosed or undiagnosed might go and try and have those treatments and think it's going to help, and it doesn't.
Kate Coomber:And is there earlier things you can do before you get to that treatment too, or is it sometimes just?
Bek Woodbine:it's best suited for certain people. I think mine by that stage was so bad that that was the choice by the psychiatrist.
Kate Coomber:Yes, so it's not like when you were talking about the wellness of just anyone can just oh, let's go and do that.
Bek Woodbine:Well look, she was promoting it for perimenopause. I mean, everyone's promoting everything for menopause and perimenopause.
Bek Woodbine:It's sort of the it thing at the moment. It changed my life and it saved me. There's no doubt about that. It just concerns me that it's going to be another thing in the wellness space that really shouldn't be touted as something that's just for wellness, when you know it's going to be double the price of what the machine is that's in my psychiatrist's office, nowhere near as um effective, and I just see it. You know, hitting vulnerable people. Vulnerable people are going to be the ones that are using this and once again, the aesthetic industry is targeting vulnerable people you.
Sam Miklos:You said a little bit earlier there that um now have to work on. You know you're managing burnout every single day. Yeah, what does that look like? And one other question was in the lead up to that moment where you just couldn't inject, was there little micro signs that, on reflection, you…. Oh, absolutely, yeah, what were those signs and what does it look like every day? Now for you to keep on top of it.
Bek Woodbine:So to keep on top of it, I've limited my injecting hours. It doesn't mean that I'm not involved in the business full time, but I'm not having that constant face-to-face. I have got a really good team around me and they probably manage me better because I still have that tendency to add people on and try and you know, please everybody and a lot of nurses are people pleasers- I mean, that's why we do what we do.
Sam Miklos:You know we're carers. Like you said, you can't say no Over time. Would you work? Yes, yes, I want to.
Bek Woodbine:And, interestingly, when I was in hospital recently, you know, after having surgery, one of the nurses came in and they were fantastic at Brisbane Private and thanks, guys, you were wonderful. But one of the nurses was telling me that she had just done a 12-hour shift. Then they asked her to do an eight-hour shift, after which she said yes to, and then they wanted her to turn around and do an early. And I said to her where's the fatigue management in this? And yes, they do get paid well for that. But I said to her, if you make a drug error, whose fault will it be? And she said oh, it'd be mine. I said would the hospital support you? She said probably not.
Bek Woodbine:I said so why are you taking on these extra shifts?
Sam Miklos:But equally, why are they putting the staff in that? Where's the leadership in all of that as well?
Bek Woodbine:Exactly, and that then goes back to the point that there's not enough nurses. We can't retain nurses, because you know we're treated still so badly.
Sam Miklos:Self-care for nurses, then how can we better support the nursing community, and particularly when you've got leaders asking them to do more shifts and you know fatigue management, there's all. There's so much systemically that they've got to deal with. What would you like to see or how do you think we can better support them?
Bek Woodbine:I think we need to change the way we think. Over and over again, I'm still hearing from nurses that we eat our own. That has to change.
Sam Miklos:What does that mean? We eat our own.
Bek Woodbine:So if a nurse is doing well or they want to go places and this has really happened with my colleagues as nurse practitioners it's such an odd space to be in because there's a lot of nurses that don't like us. A lot of GPs don't like us. Specialists love us because we're that highest clinical level. A lot of us are going out and setting up our own businesses and working independently, so GPs in medicine find that threatening, except, of course, specialists who are at the top of the ladder. Other nurses don't like it either because they're not willing to put the time and effort in to study and it is a really, really hard master's course to do.
Kate Coomber:If the nurses don't see it as more support. So you know, I don't think so.
Bek Woodbine:It's a tall poppy syndrome in nursing and historically, you know if you were really good at something. Or you know, for example, when I worked in a day surgery center, I used to love suturing and I would suture my ask the doctors to teach me how to suture the patients. Now, look, it was just. You know some ports for laparoscopies and things like that.
Bek Woodbine:But the team around me had a crack at me and they just said, oh, you just want to be a doctor. I never sutured again after that Because they saw me working outside or thinking I was something I wasn't. And that happens all the time, instead of supporting each other and just going oh my God, you're a fantastic leader. Let's work with you to become a leader in this space.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, lean into your superpower, I guess that's not just healthcare, is it?
Kate Coomber:That's just our culture? I think that's across the board. I think that's very.
Bek Woodbine:Australian, you know, to a poppy syndrome that we all talk about. You certainly don't get this in the States. When I go to the States and go to the conferences and catch up with my colleagues over there, they love anyone that is doing great, they love anyone that is making money, they love people that are going to stand up on stage and in fact nurses are boycotting any conferences, anything like that if there are no nurses speaking now.
Sam Miklos:That's really good to see, because that's it to hearing from each other. But how would we, how can we change that here if the States is leading the way but we're not? Is there some really like low level, low lying fruit that we could, you know, grab onto to make some change? I think this younger generation that are could, you know, grab onto to make some change.
Bek Woodbine:I think this younger generation that are coming through they're not going to put up with this.
Sam Miklos:No, I was thinking that when you were speaking too. I was like surely that generation, if nothing else, is going to start to change.
Kate Coomber:Who have big dreams and they really do want, they do yeah.
Bek Woodbine:However, all of you know what do they say. They're different careers in their lifetime.
Bek Woodbine:However, in nursing you can have seven different careers. You can do theatre, you can do ER, you can do rural and remote there's, you can do overseas. You know Red Cross. There is so much you can do in nursing. That just opens up to you if you want to. I mean, in my career I've done children's, I've done workplace health and safety, I've done palliative care, I've done theatre, I've done aesthetics and I've done dermatology and throw in that a few like recovery theatre and anaesthetics.
Bek Woodbine:You know, like I have had a remarkable nursing career, remarkable the things I have done and I loved segueing and I've always loved working independently and I think that's a difference as well. I loved segueing and I've always loved working independently, and I think that's a difference as well.
Kate Coomber:Do you think that people are encouraged to branch out from what they're doing, or people preferring them to stay in the lane and stay here? Because we've certainly noticed that you know nursing graduates coming out. They maybe not know of the opportunities that are available to them, that they could actually do all of these different fields and different locations around Australia.
Bek Woodbine:And there's so much opportunity. I just say, you know, get onto a program, a graduate program, try and work in as many places as you can. You know, do high dependency, do ward work, do medical, do rehab, do do whatever and try different things because you will find your passion. And once you become a nurse practitioner, we do specialize. Even though my nurse practitioners was in primary health care, I have specialized in dermatology and cosmetic dermatology.
Kate Coomber:So aesthetics, and what drew you to that? Because you had had a vast career in all those areas and you could have done your master's and and I guess, become that nurse practitioner.
Bek Woodbine:I bought a little spray tan business.
Sam Miklos:Oh, did you.
Bek Woodbine:Just to make some moolah on the side? Was that when?
Sam Miklos:spray tanning was like a new like when they were doing it in the garage, in the tents. And yeah, everyone was orange, there was only one there was sun effects.
Kate Coomber:That was it.
Bek Woodbine:And everyone poo-pooed me, and, and everyone poo-pooed me, and then I started doing it. Why did they poo-poo?
Kate Coomber:you, because you know I was doing something different and making money, and making money, and we did.
Bek Woodbine:I did very well from that little business. But then I thought here I am doing this and I really could be doing skin and I've always loved skin. I mean God. My mum bought me a Yardley skincare pack when I was in grade seven.
Bek Woodbine:You know, I've looked after my skin. I have always been interested in skin and I thought this is nuts. So I put together a business plan and bought a laser machine and then it was all self-taught because there was no courses around. And then my business grew and grew and grew and then the number of people that were asking me to inject and I didn't want to, I wasn't really interested in going down that pathway. And why was that? It didn't interest me like skin, yeah, and I love my lasers.
Sam Miklos:What were the lasers doing?
Bek Woodbine:Like skin hair removal skin rejuvenation vascularity, all of those things. So I just decided that I'd learn it, and the only way to learn at that stage was getting someone that would teach you and then going to every single training you could. That was put on by the aesthetic companies, that was put on by the farmers, and I did, and I asked questions and I went to every conference and I would pick people's brains and I practiced and I would watch things online, and it just went from there.
Bek Woodbine:And then I started training other people and then I worked for Galderma and within my own clinic and I'm lucky because I've never been someone that's over-injected people. I've never liked that aesthetic of big cheeks, big lips, frozen heads, that sort of thing. So I'm very grateful that I did follow my gut, because now we realise that a lot of things in the aesthetic space aren't what we thought they were.
Kate Coomber:Well, yeah, like talk to us about that. It's an interesting space from an outsider, I guess, looking in. Yeah, like talk to us about that. It's an interesting space from an outsider, I guess looking in. And you know I was watching a film recently of what is it? Death Becomes Her, where they were drinking the magic potion to de-age, and you know it was an 80s film or something and I was like that's really interesting.
Bek Woodbine:I think no one's allowed to age yeah, where we're at now Anymore. And you know, more power to those women that go and have facelifts and want to do that. And you know I work in this space. I refer people on to different plastic surgeons. You know I've had a lip lift done. I've had my eyelids done. I, you know, occasionally put a bit of anti-wrinkle in my face. I don't have any fillers in my face, but I do have biostimulator. But the number of people in Hollywood, for example I just was watching Brooke Shields and she's not having a facelift and the number of women that were bagging her online because she didn't, she looked.
Sam Miklos:She's aged.
Bek Woodbine:Well, she looks her age.
Sam Miklos:She looks 70.
Kate Coomber:I think she actually looks fantastic for 70. Yeah, yeah.
Bek Woodbine:But then they put up the women that were making the comments about her, and none of them were wallflowers. I have to tell you they were you know women that looked like they had aged not well, yeah, why are we shaming each other yeah. If someone wants to have a facelift, you'd go for gold.
Sam Miklos:I love it.
Bek Woodbine:You're going to look fantastic More power to you If you don't want one. Fantastic More power to you. It's everybody's choice and it's really personal. Buy more power to you If you don't want one fantastic More power to you. It's everybody's choice and it's really personal. It's really personal if someone has anti-wrinkle or not. It's really personal if someone wants their lips done. Do I like the aesthetic of these huge lips? No, I hate it. I hate it.
Sam Miklos:And it's interesting because it's getting younger and younger.
Kate Coomber:That's where.
Sam Miklos:I was going to go. It's only like five years ago that it was sort of still a little bit to do anti-wrinkle, but then now there's 20-year-olds that are getting preventative Botox.
Kate Coomber:Or really changing the look of their face. It used to be to de-age you a little bit or maybe to slow down the ageing, whereas now it's really young people who are going for a totally different.
Bek Woodbine:look, they don't come to my clinic because I won't do it.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, what are your thoughts?
Bek Woodbine:I say no a lot Okay.
Kate Coomber:A lot. How does that work? But they will go to other clinics, yeah.
Bek Woodbine:And you can tell certain aesthetics from certain clinics yeah, 100%, it's like the Kardashians they all look the same.
Sam Miklos:They do.
Bek Woodbine:You can tell they all go to the same dermatologist or plastic surgeon or whatever, but they all look the same. They've all got the same aesthetic.
Sam Miklos:And I don't like that because, you're you. Yeah.
Bek Woodbine:So don't you just want to enhance a little bit? See, I always say skin first. Yes, get your skin looking good. You know, look those british actresses like judy dench and those guys they still have the lines on their face. They haven't had a face full of filler, they haven't had a facelift, but their skin is beautiful and anyone with beautiful, flawless, clear skin is always going to look fantastic with a few lines on their face.
Bek Woodbine:It's like I hate treating around people's eyes. So many people smile with their eyes. Why would you want to stop that?
Sam Miklos:yeah, you know, when you mentioned about your mum had bought, bought you yardley cosmetics and my mum, at you know, 12, had me with clinique and dramatically different all of that what? What would you say now to a you know, a teenager? And the best tips to give themselves a really great skin wear sunscreen wear a hat um.
Bek Woodbine:Pimples are a normal part of life.
Sam Miklos:What do you do with a pimple?
Bek Woodbine:Leave it alone. However, in saying that, no kid's going to go to school with a big pustule on their face, are they? So if I've got and I treat a lot of acne in my clinic I get them onto Azclea, which is Ego, which is an Australian brand. It's got a high level of azelaic acid, which is wonderful for acne. They've got a wash. I say keep the wash in the shower, wash your face morning and night. They've got a treatment serum which will dry out a pimple, and then they've got a moisturizer that you use for the day. That's got an SPF 40 or 50 in it. I love it. It's brilliant, yeah, and let me tell you it's not expensive. You know, most people don't need to spend a fortune on skincare.
Bek Woodbine:Just go to the chemist and get some of those really great products and start just cleansing your face. I mean, half the boys that come in haven't even cleansed their face.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Kate Coomber:It's good for parents to know, isn't it, that they can come to someone like yourself for their teenager, for help, because I think some people might only think that clinics are for injectables or for you know. I think that's a really. What are the really popular things that you see in your clinic for just enhancing your skin or helping with any of those skin problems? What are the really popular treatments?
Bek Woodbine:perhaps, Probably first and foremost is if someone comes in with acne, they come in, they have an assessment and there are some, especially if they're blocked comedones, so blocked pores, and you've got to get that product out. So probably a steam and extract Peels. We love peels. Peels are just totally underrated, especially when it comes to cellular turnover, keeping your skin nice and fresh evening, the skin tone and texture just fantastic. Really popular at the moment is Softwave, but that's more for that ageing skin and it's ultrasound, so it's more about lifting. There's only three of us in Brizzy that have that device.
Bek Woodbine:We're all a bit obsessed with it.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, it sounds like something we need to look into. Yeah, it's really good.
Bek Woodbine:It's not cheap, though because we've got to buy shots and things all in USD and so it's not a cheap treatment, but it's a one-off treatment.
Sam Miklos:Just one. People don't have time for multiple visits.
Bek Woodbine:That's right. And I say to most people if you've got good skin care, every four to six weeks come and have something.
Sam Miklos:If it's every quarter.
Bek Woodbine:That's better than nothing. The one I probably love the most out of everything is IPL for skin rejuvenation, to get rid of pigmentation, to get rid of vascularity redness. It's really great for rosacea. It's just this old workhorse that we've had. I've had for the last 20 years.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, not new technology. It's not new technology. It went out of favour.
Bek Woodbine:It's coming back into favour. But oh my God, it just. It's so good for your skin. It brightens it, it evens the tone, it shuts down the pore size.
Sam Miklos:It's just sometimes the old tried and true is pretty good Because there's a load of crazy stuff coming Like. There's salmon, sperm facials.
Bek Woodbine:Yeah, they're out already.
Sam Miklos:Those are out already, and there was the vampire facials at one point. And then what was your friend saying?
Kate Coomber:No, she was talking, I think, about the salmon sperm.
Sam Miklos:But what's the?
Kate Coomber:craziest, wildest things coming to market.
Bek Woodbine:So that's the exosomes that come from the stem cells. My concern with that is that, yes, we know it works anecdotally, because our clients come back and say it works. It hurts like there's no tomorrow, injecting salmon sperm into your face. It really does hurt because your skin does look beautiful, but none of these treatments are actually evidence-based. There's no robust research around any of it. It's just anecdotal, like you said. How does that happen? Good marketing, it's coming from Korea. It's great marketing.
Sam Miklos:Has that been because there's been some major changes in the regulation of the cosmetics industry? What are those changes and does it incorporate things like that with this anecdotal?
Bek Woodbine:So they're actually not big changes.
Sam Miklos:Right.
Bek Woodbine:That legislation has been there for quite a while. It's just that it's been revisited by.
Sam Miklos:Queensland Health and what are those changes? Is it just Queensland specific? It's all about storage of drugs. Right, it's already in Tasmania, okay.
Bek Woodbine:And they're trying to change things here. It's about a nurse practitioner or a doctor are the only ones that are allowed to store S4 drugs.
Kate Coomber:Where does that leave Nurse-led clinics?
Bek Woodbine:So they're scrambling, and it depends on who their overseeing scripting body is, whether it's like Duvet or Fresh, or there's a few other ones out there. So whether that means that they are working in conjunction with a nurse practitioner who has to go into clinic and they're the ones that purchase the product and it's actually stored under their name.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Bek Woodbine:Or it's you go and see a clinic and the product gets sent to a pharmacy. Now I see huge issues with that in that patients are going to pick up those products from the pharmacy and they're going to go. Oh, I can do this.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Kate Coomber:And go online and inject themselves.
Bek Woodbine:Now, I know that that goes on. They can pretend it doesn't, but it goes on because someone who I'm friends with was saying that a guy she works with does it. Oh my, gosh Gets it from overseas, gets the botox from overseas and injects himself. Now the problem with that is recently in the uk, because anyone can inject in the uk. They're trying to change those rules. Yeah, a beauty clinic, a beautician, beauty therapist bought botox online from china and they all got botulinum poisoning.
Kate Coomber:And when you say they're doing it themselves, is this like a nurse who knows what they're doing?
Bek Woodbine:No, no, no, they're going on to YouTube Watching it on YouTube Watching it on. Youtube A tutorial and then following I have seen a woman on YouTube trying to teach who has no idea. Teaching people how to inject themselves with fillers.
Kate Coomber:That's frightening with the next generation, isn't it Horrific, Social media, and I mean you know we've got young children, young girls, that's terrifying.
Sam Miklos:So is there more regulation that's needed, like it sounds like the ones you said around the storage of drugs? Are there bigger problems out there that need to be addressed? Are there?
Bek Woodbine:bigger problems out there that need to be addressed? Yeah, I think there are bigger problems out there that need to be addressed because, in my experience and look, these are the nurses I deal with, because you know you find your tribe and you tend to go with like-minded people they are great injectors, amazing injectors, and they know their scope of practice. They don't work outside their scope. They will refer advanced you know complex areas to me or to other colleagues that you know have done the study and do that sort of injecting. I help a lot of my colleagues with vascular occlusions, with adverse events.
Bek Woodbine:I'll often get a phone call. Get them in, I assess them, I look after them and, moving forward, you know I'll always send them back to their clinic. I'm not someone that will try and poach patients, but you know I'll help my colleagues and I have, and I do, and I've also helped my medical colleagues who have struggled with concerns.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Bek Woodbine:Because I do a lot of it. I have ultrasound, I help a lot of my colleagues, I like doing the complex treatments and I like helping my colleagues out if there's a concern.
Kate Coomber:I like it, you know.
Bek Woodbine:So I do that, and then I have a fantastic network around me of plastic surgeons, cosmetic physicians and dermatologists that, if I'm stuck, I can get you know.
Sam Miklos:They're on my fast dial and those guys will.
Bek Woodbine:I never hesitate to call them and they will always pick up and help. And there's a lot of people out there, even a lot of GPs, and that that don't have the network I have yeah, or want to be able to solve it themselves. Well, that then comes into see. I have a real issue with GPs thinking that they can, just because they're doctors, they can inject one day a week.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, which a lot are, a lot are yeah.
Bek Woodbine:And in fact someone I know it's a client of mine said to me last week that a doctor had come in to her.
Bek Woodbine:She has a little salon of some description and a doctor came into her space, you know, wanting to buy it, and then she said oh no, let's just go 50-50. And then her comment to her was oh, these changes are so fantastic because the nurses soon won't be able to inject and there'll be more money for the doctors. Yeah, yeah, and that is the mindset that's out there, rather than there are a lot of people that have spent a lot of money doing up businesses, you know, paying rent, having to, you know, lease places, lawyers, like it's not cheap to run a clinic, it's very expensive what's?
Sam Miklos:oh sorry, I'm just gonna go separate. What's the biggest myth that you hear in the cosmetics industry? Because you know people go oh, you put filler in, it's going to end up all over your face. There's lots of crazy things that might be the case, but what are some of those myths that you hear?
Bek Woodbine:If filler is placed inappropriately, yes, it can migrate. If too much filler is placed inappropriately, it can migrate. However, we now know that in areas like around the mouth and around the eye that, yes, the majority of the filler will be absorbed, dissipate, go. However, what remains gets agitated by blinking, by moving our mouth, by talking, and we now know that the cells that are left, or the molecules of that filler that are left behind, they expand dramatically, like 3,000 to 4,000 times its original size. Now you've four thousand times its original size. Now you've got to remember its original size is small. However it will, it will get bigger and bigger and then it can migrate and move.
Bek Woodbine:Now I do have a colleague that has never had filler in this area and had to have a skin cancer taken off her nose and in the biopsy there was filler. Had to have a skin cancer taken off her nose and in the biopsy there was filler. So, yes, I do think it to some degree can migrate. I've got a couple of clients that have gone and had MRIs and they had their cheeks done, dare I say it, very inappropriately and in the wrong plane and then they had migration of filler all up under their eyes. And can you see that?
Kate Coomber:Oh absolutely you can see it.
Bek Woodbine:I can see it on my ultrasound, but you can see it also on the MRI. Yeah yeah. And we've dissolved that because she's having eye surgery. So what do?
Kate Coomber:people. Do you know, if people are looking for a good clinician and they want things done in an appropriate way? How?
Sam Miklos:do. It's a saturated market market. Yeah, how?
Kate Coomber:do you know where to go if you're a, if you're a parent with children and you want to find a safe space for them to actually look after skin, or if you want to enhance yourself, like, how do people know where to start? I?
Bek Woodbine:think you need to look at the clinic. Look at the protocols around that clinic. Are they doing the right thing? Look at that. The best thing to do is look at their Instagram.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, because how does a consumer know what the right thing is?
Bek Woodbine:Because if they're not following the law, if they're not following the TGA rules and they've got before and afters and a whole heap of stuff on their Instagram- or they're showing them injecting.
Kate Coomber:Then people won't even know that that's not allowed.
Bek Woodbine:So you've got to do your research. You've got to do your research, but they should look for the before and after.
Sam Miklos:Photos are no longer allowed. No.
Bek Woodbine:And you're not allowed to use the words injecting any toxin like Botox or Dysport or those sort of words. There's just so much you can't say or do, so I think anyone worth their pinch of salt has removed all of that.
Bek Woodbine:And yet in my podcast I interviewed the guys from Operation Redress and they're very big advocates for this space for the consumer and they are doing up an AI app that will just go through and have a look at websites, look at social media, and it flags how many errors you have or things you haven't changed. He said. Michael said to me do you mind if I have a look at your website? Now? I had gone through everything. I still had 36 mistakes on my website because in the back end and I didn't even know about the back end.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, the back end I was going to say, looking at the outward facing I had no idea.
Bek Woodbine:So then we had to get in touch with our webmaster and get him to take that off, because he'd still left that on for the SEO.
Sam Miklos:Yes.
Bek Woodbine:I had no idea. I was like no, I've removed everything. And he was going well, you've got 36. He said most people have thousands.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, wow.
Sam Miklos:I've got so many questions. Sorry no mine was off, so go ahead Okay. So, Bec, what are you most proud of in all the things that you've done and where you are today?
Bek Woodbine:My family, my two kids and my husband, so they've turned out to be really good people. Yeah, don't know why.
Sam Miklos:What have you done? What have you done? Tell us, because we all heard Paul right.
Bek Woodbine:Both the kids were involved in high-level sport so that kept them busy. And you know, I also wasn't one of those parents that the kids had to get all A's, all that sort of stuff. As long as I saw A for effort, I was fine. They weren't allowed to sleep with their phones. They weren't allowed to take their phones into their rooms because social media and all that was just starting to take off and there was a bit of you know, there was pushback with that and I just said to the kids that's fine, you pay for your own phones, you can keep them in your rooms, but while I'm paying for them, they're mine to do with as I please.
Bek Woodbine:So you know that was really good and my husband is divine and very supportive. We did have a marriage breakdown for about six months and did that coincide with your burnout period? Yeah, and I just stopped drinking and there was so much was going on. But he was just amazing and it wasn't because of other people or anything like that, it was just I was really unhappy. Yeah, and how can?
Kate Coomber:you give to someone else when you're trying so hard to help yourself.
Bek Woodbine:Yeah, and Claire had gone away and Jake was finishing up. I'd finished my nurse practitioner, so I just was lost.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, talk to us about that, because you mentioned earlier about you've given up alcohol, and that's a journey so many people are exploring at the minute and they're talking about it, but I feel like it's so hard for people to actually give up because our culture is let's go for a drink, let's go for knock-off drinks. We go to restaurants and now everything is paired with wines and even though there's some great non-alcoholic options, it seems tough. So what was the prompter for you and how's that journey been?
Bek Woodbine:The journey is easier now but, it was very hard in the first instance. I knew it was becoming problematic and I went and saw a GP and was shamed by her. And I went and saw a GP and was shamed by her. And I remember going out and sitting in the car and ringing a friend of mine whose husband's a psychiatrist, and I said to her, would he see me? And I knew that would be the end of that friendship because, you know, I had to be very respectful of the fact that he would now be my clinician. He got me in within a couple of days and started me on a medication called Camprel, but I don't know if it was the medication or I'd made that decision and then also had that support that literally I never had a drink again and I haven't. Now It'll be six years, beginning of next year. So I think support makes a big difference.
Bek Woodbine:I also, you know, I had tried AA. I hated it. I just couldn't stand not touching anybody and someone would be telling their story and really distressed and the rules are you can't touch anyone because you don't know what sort of trauma they've had. So I joined a group called Smart Recovery Australia and I could do it online and I could be anonymous. And I realized going on to that that I was really lucky I was. And I think if I had kept on the trajectory that I was really lucky I was, and I think if I had have kept on the trajectory that I was on, I would have been in the situation some of those people were in, you know, being court ordered or drink driving or something like that. But it really opened my eyes up to the struggle people are having with the ability to get alcohol with no stop in between. You know, during COVID, you know it was classed as an essential service, I mean seriously, I just have to say it what the fuck?
Bek Woodbine:And domestic violence went through the roof during COVID Alcohol sales went through the roof. During COVID Alcohol sales went through the roof and there were women on there that had kids at school and would just call up and it would be delivered straight away to them.
Kate Coomber:And working from home and you know Huge issues.
Bek Woodbine:And you know people go. Well, aren't you strong enough? It's not that it's very insidious drinking and you feel like you can cope and you're doing okay until you can't. It's like gambling, you know, and our culture is that if you don't drink, there's something wrong with you. And I have been told that.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, have been told that, yeah, have you found that difficult? Like, have you lost friends? Have you found it difficult going to functions At first? I did. I don't now.
Bek Woodbine:But you know, just this weekend I struggled going to an event because everyone was drinking, everyone was pairing wine with food and I had to keep asking for my drink to get filled up with sparkling water, you know, and it was in a tumbler, whereas you know they could have said, oh, let's get you a wine glass and put some sparkling water in that for you, you know perfect.
Bek Woodbine:I love now that there's a lot of places that do great mocktails or see the states do it really well. There's usually a whole page of mocktail, or they call them virgin cocktails, and just not drinking is the norm over there. People, if you don't drink, it's no big deal. You don't drink here. I had some person tell me once that you know he doesn't trust anyone that doesn't drink. I've had another guy. We were at a Melbourne Cup function and offered to buy. He sort of worked with this group that you know. His exact words were oh God, aren't you fucking boring?
Sam Miklos:Oh, wow, and.
Bek Woodbine:I left fairly quickly after that, or when I go into events, and I just found this recently, I went into an event and all they had was wine, champagne and beer at the front entrance.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Bek Woodbine:It's not okay. It's not okay anymore. You've got to be able. People have got to cater for people that are non-drinkers, because that younger generation are not drinking.
Kate Coomber:That's what I was going to say. We notice here, you know, the younger people coming through. It's just a choice they're making.
Bek Woodbine:It's such a great choice because, as we, go into menopause and perimenopause? What? Alcohol does to our bodies, as women in particular, is horrendous, and the more you drink they now know it's linked to alzheimer's, it's linked to dementia, it's linked to poor bone health.
Kate Coomber:Anxiety is a huge thing for menopausal women and it exacerbates all of that, you know it's disappointing to hear that you felt shamed by the gp when you tried to get help. Yeah, and talking earlier about people bringing people down within the healthcare sector and not supporting success and just not supporting each other, what do you think has to shift to really create that happier healthcare workforce in this country? What is one thing that we could do?
Bek Woodbine:Support each other. Education is paramount. Education around self-care is paramount. It's okay to say no.
Bek Woodbine:I recently had significant back issues and I had to, and most people wouldn't even know about this. I ended up having to find my own specialist because my GP original GP didn't believe that I was having falls because of the major issues with my back. I had a bit of foot drop. I'd been to a pain specialist and she told me I was making it up and drug seeking. Went to emergency at St Andrews because after the cyclone here I moved some things and my back was really bad, went in asking for an MRI and he just treated me horrifically and it was at that point. I then reached out to colleagues and said to them you know who do I see and you know I was able to get in and see them, but most people don't have those contacts.
Bek Woodbine:So if I got treated that way as a health professional, what hope do the general public have? Or are the nurses that don't know, or haven't been around for as long as I have been? I mean and you hear this all the time this gaslighting around medicine? I don't know what the answer is. I think we need and you hear this all the time, this gaslighting around medicine. I don't know what the answer is. I think we need to support our young people. We need to encourage them to stay. We need to let them know that nursing isn't glamorous. However, there are some amazing job opportunities in nursing. There's so many different pathways, you can take.
Kate Coomber:If one thing isn't for you, there still might be something within nursing. Do they talk?
Sam Miklos:about, though, like how do you define self-care for healthcare professionals when they're doing shift work? They're doing back-to-back.
Bek Woodbine:Is there a piece that we actually need to define it? I think that limiting the number of patients you're looking after, having good patient-nurse ratios on wards, is very important. If a nurse can't work or stay back and she says no, respect that usually there's a pretty good reason why someone can't stay back. Don't keep going to the same people that always say yes because you'll end up burning them out. Always say yes because you'll end up burning them out. We need to make sure that they're. You know that as colleagues. If you notice in someone that someone's getting burnt out, they've maybe made a couple of mistakes. They're coming to work a bit dusty, you know. Instead of turning into this big drama, take them aside and have a chat with them.
Kate Coomber:Are you okay, are you?
Bek Woodbine:okay, straight away. You flagged with them that someone's watching them, that they know something's amiss, so and then, if someone does tell you something, keep it a confidence. You know unless it's a mandatory notification. But and if you're a leader and someone talks to you, I've heard so many horror stories about nurses going into their leaders to talk about things and then that person has gone out and spoken about it with other people.
Kate Coomber:That's a no-no To them. That brings fear of not speaking up.
Bek Woodbine:And they won't yeah. To them that brings fear of not speaking up and they won't. We have to support each other, you know. Hold someone's space with them if they need you to Ask them if they want help. That's a big thing. Ask Are you okay? How can I help you? Do you want help? They might say no.
Sam Miklos:Yeah.
Bek Woodbine:They might be going through a marriage breakup, their kid might be unwell, their dog could be sick for the day, like, unless you ask, you will never know. So look after your colleagues you know be. Collegial doctors actually do this very well, nurses not so much do you think it's because it's a largely female profession?
Bek Woodbine:I think yes, but I also think historically, nurses have been notoriously awful to each other and I have seen it time and time and time again when I was in the hospital, when I was in the theatres. I mean, I learnt very early on in the operating theatres to be friends with everybody, just lay low, just be free, and I've done that in the aesthetic space. I've just kept to myself.
Kate Coomber:It's interesting, isn't it, when you're in this caring profession of caring for others but not caring for one another. It sort of doesn't make sense.
Bek Woodbine:The best wards I ever worked in had amazing leaders and I can tell you off the bat, when I trained it was CC3 or CC4, which was diabetes, and I think her name was Beth and she was standing in as CNC. She was amazing and I loved her. And then the other one was M6, which was infectious diseases, and the ward was run by a registered nurse called Dolly.
Sam Miklos:What made those two so special?
Bek Woodbine:They cared, they cared about their staff and they cared about their patients and they took the time to explain things. So I had an and I've spoken about this on my podcast where a daughter was just being a real cow to me and I was very young, very stupid nurse, you know, very naive. I was what? 17 at the time, 16, 17. And I found her really rude and awful to me and I was just doing the best I could. And I can remember walking out of that ward or that room and the CNC was there and I remember saying to her I just can't make this woman happy, I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. And this woman came out probably to complain about me, I don't know and I remember she walked down and opened her arms up to that woman and that woman laid a head on her shoulder and cried that's all she needed. Yeah, she was under stress.
Kate Coomber:She was under stress.
Bek Woodbine:She didn't need a 17-year-old trying to tell her what to do. I had no life skills, but my CNC did and I had enough insight to watch that interaction to go okay. I was way over my head here. I was trying to be something. I wasn't. And I learnt a lot from that one interaction because she was such a remarkable leader, remarkable human you know, she could read patients and families and yeah, it's funny, the little interactions like that that I learnt a lot.
Bek Woodbine:Dolly, big on education, never treated anyone like a fool. If you didn't know she'd go, okay, let's get you some education in that area. But she was strict. You know she was strict and we all had guidelines and we knew what our rules were and you just didn't break them because you didn't want to let her down. Yeah.
Kate Coomber:But then unclear is unkind. To know where you stand and to know what you have to do and have clarity around your role makes everyone perform better.
Bek Woodbine:Oh, she, just. They were two leaders that really stood out for me. And yet my first ward at PA, oh my God, I just have the worst memories and nightmares, because the CNC was awful to us all. The RNs didn't want to be there. They were awful to all of us. Out of all the new students, there was two of us that went on to do nursing.
Sam Miklos:Wow.
Bek Woodbine:Everyone else left after six weeks Like a sink or swim.
Kate Coomber:Absolutely.
Bek Woodbine:So when you think about nursing that way, I mean, yeah, it was a hard. I just don't think I think university is a wonderful way, do I think it could be better? Absolutely. But I don't think anyone should be my age, where I was. Just, I was 16, just turning 17, and throwing out bodies you know, cleaning old men up. Yeah, I just I look back now, and no wonder so many nurses left. There's just this huge attrition rate doing it through the hospitals that you don't hear about, but it happened yeah.
Kate Coomber:Thank you, Bec. Cmr are making a donation to a charity of your choice with this episode. Where are we donating that money to? I'd like it to go to FAIR.
Bek Woodbine:Well, I think it's FAIR Australia, which is all around alcohol research, which is all around alcohol research, fetal alcohol syndrome research, stopping or research around cessation of advertising and the ability to get alcohol so quickly. So, yeah, it's close to my heart. I think it's a wonderful organisation. Yeah, absolutely.
Sam Miklos:Thank you so much. Bec, you're welcome. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you here today, and we've covered a lot of topics.
Kate Coomber:We've gone all over yeah.
Sam Miklos:But we're so grateful for our time with you today.
Bek Woodbine:You are more than welcome and thank you so much for asking me. It's been a delight to be on the other side of the microphone.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, stay tuned for part two of this conversation coming soon. We Part two of this conversation coming soon. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which we meet who for centuries have shared ancient methods of healing and cared for their communities. We pay our respects to elders, past and present.
