My NHS mistake that almost ended my career in this country

I remember the day like yesterday. I was a junior nurse still finding my feet, and I gave a patient the wrong medication. The moment I realised, my heart just dropped. I thought my career in this country was finished before it even started.

The investigation was intense, I won't lie. I was scared, I was praying, I was ready to pack my bags and go back to Ibadan. But my senior colleague, a Ghanaian woman, she looked at me and said, 'Own it. Never hide your mistake. That is the only way they will trust you again.' So I did. I wrote a full report, I apologised to the patient, I took every extra training they gave me.

Na wa oh. In Nigeria, we are taught to cover our tracks, to never admit fault because it will be used against you. But in this country, the system is different. They respect honesty more than perfection. That mistake humbled me, and it taught me that integrity is not about never falling, it is about how you get up.

God is faithful. I am still here, still a nurse, still learning. But I wonder, how many of us are carrying mistakes we never confessed, and they are weighing us down more than the mistake itself?