Jo Brand is a popular and respected comic and television personality. She was also a mental health professional and offers some unique insights into nursing. Consider her story and the challenge that follows.
Female Leaders: Jo Brand
Josephine Grace ‘Jo’ Brand was born in 1957 and has established a career as a notable English comedian, writer and actor. After working in a number of service jobs, she took a joint social science degree with a registered mental nurse qualification at Brunel University. She then worked as a psychiatric nurse for ten years, at Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea and the Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital in London.
Jo’s personal life and career as a comedian have been consistently linked to healthcare; she proactively uses her high public profile and popularity to promote the well‐being of people with health problems, in particular but not exclusively those with mental health problems. As a staunch advocate for and campaigner on behalf of people with mental health problems, in 2007 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glamorgan for her work as a psychiatric nurse. Professor Donna Mead, Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Science, who read her up for the award, commented, ‘Jo incorporates much of her experience working in the field of mental health into her current work as a comedienne. This has increased awareness of the work done by nurses in the mental health field. She has also used her experiences of working with individuals with conditions such as Alzheimer’s to promote awareness of and raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.’ In 2014, Jo was awarded a second honorary doctorate by Canterbury Christ Church University, for her work in raising awareness of mental health issues and challenging the stigma surrounding such illnesses.
In her entertainment career in the alternative comedy stand‐up scene, Jo has appeared on various television shows, including being a regular guest on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? In 2003 she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. During her first gig as a comedian, she was scheduled to perform last in front of ‘an audience from hell’ and drank seven pints of lager while waiting. She humorously described how she therefore faced her first live audience with a ‘bursting bladder’. As she climbed onto the stage, a male heckler started shouting ‘Fuck off, you fat cow’ and kept up the abuse until her performance finished. There was no applause at the end of her act. However, she persevered and her early comedy style involved her delivering jokes in a bored monotone, one line at a time, with pauses in between. She drew heavily from pop culture and the media, with many jokes containing references to well‐known celebrities and public figures. Her appearance and material led to false rumours that she was a lesbian. She married Bernie Bourke, a psychiatric nurse, in 1997 and has two daughters.
Jo delivered a guest lecture on the subject of psychiatric nursing to the University of Derby Psychology Society in 1997 in return for a donation to Derby Rape Crisis. Also in 1997, at Lambeth Hospital in South London, she opened the first major exhibition of the Adamson Collection since the death of Edward Adamson, the pioneer of art therapy, in 1996.
Jo co‐created, co‐wrote and co‐starred in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On, for which she won the 2011 Best TV Comedy Actress BAFTA. The series, set in a geriatric ward, is a funny and realistic satire on the UK National Health Service.
In 2010, Jo took part in Channel 4’s ComedyGala, a benefit show in aid of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. She is a supporter of a number of charities and she was one of the celebrities, along with Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, E. L. James and Rachel Riley, to design and sign her own card for the UK‐based charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. In 2014, Jo was a part of the All Star Choir, who released a cover version of ‘Wake Me Up’ to raise money for BBC’s Children in Need, which entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. She is the president of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and is a patron of the National Self Harm Network, the Prader‐Willi Syndrome Association and London Nightline. In 2016 Jo Brand completed a highly publicised 150‐mile walk across Britain in aid of Sport Relief.
Challenge: This chapter on clinical decision making focuses on how clinical leaders make decisions and the relevance and significance of decision making for clinical leaders and for care and services delivery. Jo Brand never forgot her education and experience as a mental health nurse. On the contrary, she used the opportunities presented by her ‘second career’ as a comedian to advocate for and champion the causes of those in society who need support due to their health conditions. She campaign for national and international charities and draws on her experience of clinical decision making when she was a practising nurse to highlight to national and international decision makers the challenges for those living with the consequences of health problems. She puts herself under considerable pressure in order to raise much‐needed charity funds and help develop and promote healthcare services so that current healthcare professionals can work with patients to participate in shared decision making. Do you use your privileged knowledge and understanding within your area of healthcare to help ensure that shared decision making is a reality? Think about how you promote shared decision making in healthcare and whether there are areas of your personal life in which you could advocate for the wider political and societal needs of those in your care. Are there ways in which you use your professional education and experience to help others understand the needs of the groups or individuals you involve in decision making around their health problems?
