Literature & Medicine Redux: Five Years of Literary Advocacy in the Hospital Setting

Abstract

The Literature & Medicine program has been expanding to new states and more diverse territory over the past 10 years. Hospital librarians continue to be involved in the organization and planning of the program. This article addresses the variations in how the seminars are administered in larger and smaller hospitals and concludes that despite the diversity of practices and settings, the program's goals of improving empathy, interpersonal relations, cultural awareness, job satisfaction, and communication are being met successfully.

KEYWORDS:

• communication
• employee attitudes
• interpersonal relations
• interprofessional relations
• literature
• personnel retention
• reading
• reading group