How to Design a Medical Library

Doctors and nurses often find a medical library valuable in helping their patients understand complicated medical concepts. In such a library, a patient can learn about a disease or disorder, how to help themselves and even what to ask their doctor. They can also find information about problems that have not yet been diagnosed. Designing such a library requires knowledge of your hospital's specialties and most commonly seen disorders so that materials useful to the greatest number of patients can be acquired. You must also know where to find resources that are easily understood by patients.

Instructions

• 1

  Interview doctors and nurses to find out what kinds of injuries and illnesses they see most often. This will help you decide what subjects to include in your library materials. If your doctors and nurses treat a significant number of diabetic patients, for example, you will want to collect information on diabetes.

• 2

  Find a vendor for the informational materials you need. Materials that are easy to understand -- pamphlets, videos and DVDs -- are very valuable because patients are often under stress when they enter a hospital. Remember that you will need televisions and players if you purchase DVDs or videos. Materials that patients can take with them when they leave are also very popular.

• 3

  Purchase computers. There are many websites that are designed for patient information, such as Medline; Internet access is necessary for these. Determine your patient population before deciding how many computers to purchase. The Thomas Branigan Memorial Library found that they required at least two or more computers per 1,000 individuals in their population, but designing a good library involves quite a bit of trial and error. Doing surveys to find out what library users like and do not like about their experience is very important to improving library services.

• 4

  Buy a subscription to a specialty database if your hospital is known for a particular specialization, such as heart disease. Because your hospital treats many patients with very specific disorders, it is worthwhile to invest in a database that caters to their needs.

• 5

  Purchase general office equipment for your library such as copiers, fax machines and printers. These can be very useful to patients.