Generic rehabilitation assistants : will rehabilitation nurses take up the challenge?

This paper provides an overview of some of the issues that need to be considered in the context of a declining health workforce. It outlines some of the arguments for and against the introduction of generic health workers and more specifically, for the role of generic rehabilitation - assistant. It is argued that rehabilitation nurses, amongst others, are well placed to take an active role in the development of innovative interdisciplinary models of care that enhance patient outcomes as they transect the continuum of care. Failure to do so will be at the peril of rehabilitation nursing.