The Importance of Administration in solving the Pain Epidemic

Working in one of the worlds leading pain hospitals, Monash House Private Hospital, means the Doctors and Nursing staff usually get all of the attention as they are on the front line with patients.

Their kudos is well deserved as they do great work, but as Dr Dan Bates stated: "it takes an army to solve the pain epidemic". Part of the army is a team that gets little attention but is absolutely essential to the operation of our Hospital and any business.

Behind the scenes of any big organisation, there is an administration team, that I would argue is equally as important in helping combat chronic pain in our community. This team keeps the wheels turning. They pay the bills, greet our patients, manage our facilities, ensure we have all of the equipment we need and basically run our organisation.

Without them, the Doctors and nurses wouldn't be able to do their great work. Therefore they are as much a part of the Pain Solution as anybody else.

I'm reminded of a famous case study at NASA when a gardener was interviewed as to his role in the organisation and he said: "I help put men on the moon". He felt so connected to the purpose of the organisation that he felt part of the overall mission, not just lost in his small part of the process.

So my advice to other managers is to ensure your entire team knows what the mission is and how they contribute to the big outcome you are trying to achieve. In this way, they will remain motivated to do their best work and enjoy the experience.

That's the culture we work hard to achieve at our organisation and it really is a better place to work because of it.

Regards MHPH Administration Team

P.S. To ensure we recognise all of our team equally we created the 'Above and Beyond' awards for extra special staff. February's winner was one of our fabulous admin team who is always going the extra mile with our staff and patients. Congratulations to the bubbly and bright Carol!