The Problem Patron in a Hospital Library

Abstract

Few realize the difficult job most hospital librarians have. They work in pressure-cooker atmospheres of short or impossible deadlines, multiple conflicting missions, shrinking budgets, ever-changing technology, masses of regulations and, most of all, difficult patrons. This paper will attempt to explore the difficult hospital library patron and how best to deal with him or her.

KEYWORDS:

• health care employees
• library administration
• medical librarianship
• nurses, personality traits, physicians, problem patron