Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

Providing sufficient information for patients and other healthcare clients is necessary to protect their rights in health systems. In this realm, medical librarians, especially in hospital libraries, can play an important role in supporting patients' rights. Professional national and international associations have compiled and promulgated some codes and guidelines in some countries however, there are many shortcomings in this area in our country. This paper aims to review the status of patients' and other healthcare clients' rights in professional codes of ethics of library and information sciences and professional standards of hospital libraries. We hope the results can provide us with an approach for a more strict observance of patients' rights in our country. This paper reviews professional codes of ethics of library and information sciences and professional standards of hospital libraries. We will contemplate on the articles related to patients' and other healthcare receivers' rights. The findings show that providing patients with information is a pivotal element in professional codes of ethics of library and information sciences and professional standards of hospital libraries. Interactive and knowledge-based information (KBI) that is based on improvement of performance and finding clinical solutions (not just education without practical impact) have aided clinical librarians in protection of patients' rights in some countries.Considering the roles of libraries and information centers in collecting, organizing and making accessible the information for their users, librarians and information scientist should make effective utilization of information possible for healthcare clients, while taking into account their specific needs. Therefore, it is essential to compile professional codes of ethics containing the appropriate approach to disseminate information to patients and other healthcare clients, and to define specific roles for clinical librarians in hospitals and medical clinics.