The First Time I Made A Mistake In The Ward

Although it wasn’t a life-threatening mistake but to me, it felt like the end of the world.

I had just started my clinical posting and was trying to prove I was capable even though I was still scared of making eye contact with the Chief Matron(Nurse).

I was asked to chart a patient’s vital signs, which I did everything right or so I thought. Then later, the nurse reviewed my documentation and gently said, “This BP reading doesn’t match the one you gave earlier.”

Instantly, My heart dropped into my stomach, I had switched the systolic and diastolic values. I felt really embarrassed, so disappointed in myself. And all I could think was, “What if that had gone unnoticed? “Am I even cut out for this?”, “Is this how I’ll make more dangerous mistakes in the future?”

But the nurse didn’t shout, she had to explained calmly, corrected me, and said, “This is why you’re learning. This is what clinicals are for.”

That one sentence gave me permission to breathe again. Because then, I realized:
Mistakes don’t define you. They refine you.

Every nurse you look up to has made one.
What matters is that you learn, adjust, and keep growing.

If you’ve made a mistake recently, big or small please don’t let shame silence you. Try to talk about it and also learn from it. And most importantly, don’t stop showing up.

You’re not a failure. You’re a work in progress. And that’s exactly what you’re supposed to be. So forgive yourself, Correct it and Grow!...

Because every great nurse was once a student who got something wrong
and decided to keep going anyway.

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