It is very obvious that far too many nail courses are not teaching about nail conditions! They may provide a ‘manual’ that lists some, but this knowledge is not checked nor tested. It is a case of ‘read this’. NOT good enough!
Every day there are dozens of posts on social media of pictures of a condition with the question “what is this?”. What follows is a whole list of comments and advice. Some are correct but most are wrong!! How do you know what is right? Many comments include the question “are you qualified?”. This always upsets, and the accurate answer is “yes but not very well!” But who admits to that? You don’t know what you don’t know.
There really is no point in posting a picture of a condition asking what it is! Almost always, other information is needed to give an accurate answer. Every condition needs different information.
Confused? So are many!
A very general example: there are some marks visible under the nail plate. Are the marks on all nails or just 1? What nail services has the client received in recent months? What is the time between services or maintenance? Is the client aware of any accidental damage? Is there any sensation in the nail bed e.g., soreness, tightness? Is there any change in the skin condition around the nail? How good is the client’s homecare routine?
After gaining all the information you need to have a good idea of what is going wrong. Then is the time to decide what to do about it.
It is a very fine line between recognition and diagnosis, and a line that is so often crossed.
The basic level of education should start with the National Occupational Standards. These are considered to be ‘job ready’. They are not advanced. Unfortunately, so many courses don’t even come close. Regulated qualifications are totally based on the NOS but also rely on the quality assurance from the Awarding Body (which doesn’t always hit the mark!) Unregulated or accredited qualifications are supposed to be based on the NOS. But when you consider a regulated manicure qualification should take around 55 hrs. to complete (including ‘nail conditions’), and some unregulated courses are done in half a day, how can it even work? It doesn’t!
Education is everything!
But remember the comparison between ‘practice makes perfect’ vs ‘perfect practice makes perfect’?
Practicing the wrong thing does not make perfect!
In the same way, not all education is everything, but only good and reliable education is!!
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