Schumacher 2024: My Accidental Career in Patient Safety: from gorillas to swiss cheese and beyond

Flexibility trumps everything when it comes to understanding the complexities of patient safety, says Dr. Glenn McRae, BSc’94, BN’98, PhD’18. 

On Oct. 5,  UCalgary Nursing held its 2024 Marguerite Schumacher Memorial Alumni Lecture at the Ranchmen’s Club. McRae was the keynote speaker who shared numerous stories about his career path in nursing and his work on safety within the profession. He recounted anecdotes about the desire for simplicity in a system that is complex and the tendency to control and script when things go wrong rather than protect discretionary space. 

McRae captivated an audience of over 85 people, including members of the first UCalgary Faculty of Nursing graduating BN class from 1974, who were in attendance celebrating their 50th graduation anniversary.

Dr. McRae has spent most of his 26-year nursing career working in quality and patient safety roles. During that time, he served in the Canadian Armed Forces, worked in the Middle East and in regional and provincial health authorities in two provinces.  He has completed additional training in critical care nursing and in quality and patient safety and has taught and consulted on a variety of patient safety topics across North America and the Middle East.

Currently, McRae is the vice-president for Quality, Research, and Academic Affairs with Interior Health. He was previously their Chief Nursing Officer and is based in Kelowna, British Columbia on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people.

On the importance of flexibility, McRae pointed out of requisite variety in the complex adaptive system of health care.

“The variety in the system is always going to exceed the variety in our workforce,” said McRae.

“We can’t possibly write a protocol, a guideline, a cookbook for every situation, because it hasn’t happened yet.”

His lecture included entertaining stories about various systems and methodologies he encountered during his career.  To help address patient safety when administering safe treatment for patients, he spoke on the Swiss Cheese Model (developed by James Reason) and the “Invisible Gorilla Experiment (study by Chris Chabris and Dan Simons). 

A very special occasion for UCalgary Nursing’s first graduating class

In addition to the 11th annual lecture, 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Nursing’s first graduating BN class from 1974. On Oct. 4, 12 members of the graduating class visited main campus to share an afternoon tea to catch up and reminisce. They were joined by three other members who attended via Zoom.

"The members of the graduating class of 1974 who were able to attend the event in person certainly enjoyed ourselves and appreciated all the efforts that the Alumni made on our behalf; from pulling our graduation picture for the team, arranging the photo of our class at the memorial lecture, to providing special gifts for each of us" said Judy Kelly, member of the class of 1974.

"It was very thoughtful of the Faculty of Nursing to recognize us on this special anniversary date. Thank you for offering us the opportunity to attend these lovely 50^th anniversary events."

This class reunion celebrated how far UCalgary Nursing has come over the past 50 years, the dedication of these passionate nurses and the profession’s impact on our communities. Most importantly, it gave members of our first graduating class the chance to connect once again, share stories and celebrate the 50 years of friendship, collaboration and achievement.