Joni Mylott, RN
Joni Mylott, RN, still remembers how scared she was when she learned she’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at age 20. Joni’s experience recently helped her comfort a 19-year-old patient who’d just learned she had MS.
“The patient came into the ED with a headache and vision problems,” says Joni, who works at McKay-Dee Hospital. “She thought she might be having migraines.”
When Karen Bossler, MD, tested the patient and confirmed she had MS, she approached Joni who was the charge nurse that day.
“Dr. Bossler and I are friends, so she knows my story,” says Joni. “She asked if I’d be willing to speak with the patient and her mother.”
The patient had no previous health problems—just like Joni—so the news was shocking and upsetting. Neither the patient nor her mother knew anything about MS.
Joni says she thought about her own diagnosis years ago and how scared she was at first. “When my doctor first told me I had MS, it was a really harsh conversation that wasn’t helpful in the moment,” she says. “It left me feeling scared. I remember going home and doing an online search and getting even more worried.”
Joni says she wanted to try and prevent this fear by sharing her perspective with the patient and her mother. “I told them what my dad told me when I was diagnosed: ‘You can either let this define you or it can just be part of who you are.’”
Joni also talked about the many medicines that have been developed throughout the years. And she let them know she’d found medications that worked for her.
Joni and her husband
“I answered questions and talked in detail about how I view MS and how it’s just a small part of my life,” she says. “I told the patient I work 12-hour shifts a few days a week. I’m the mother of two young kids. I still do everything I want to do.”
“Of course, it’s overwhelming and something new,” Joni says. “But it doesn’t have to be an awful experience.”
Kate Bettolo, RN, says, “Joni helped reassure and educate this patient on the next steps and what to expect for the near future with testing, specialists, and the different variables with the disease process. The patient was very grateful, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room afterward.”
Joni says one of the silver linings of having MS is that it helps her connect with patients. “I’ve gone through a lot, so I have a better understanding of what a patient may be going through. My attitude is always one of being helpful and remembering that every patient is a person.”
“Many patients experience fear while receiving healthcare, due to the unknown,” says Shelley Egley, Intermountain’s patient advocacy director. “It’s easy to go about daily checklists to get the work done without picking up on the feelings of our patients, but to pause and make a connection allows us to relieve suffering that comes from fear. Taking the opportunity to understand what’s really important to patients will impact how we deliver care. Most often, it’s showing compassion and caring that makes the biggest difference to our patients, and it’s what they’ll remember about their experience with us. Joni demonstrated how making a connection through a shared experience allowed her to provide what was most important to this patient in the moment.”