Nursing Approaches to Safety for Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender-Expansive Patients: A Roy Adaptation Model Application

Safety for transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive (TGNE) individuals includes freedom from discrimination, stigma, and threats to psychological well-being. This paper presents an application of Roy’s adaptation model (RAM) to examine safety across the physiological, self-concept, role function, and interdependence modes through a fictional case study of a TGNE patient in a nurse-client encounter. Our analysis reveals how nurses can foster affirming environments, address systemic barriers, and use theory to guide adaptive and equitable care. This application highlights the connection between nursing theory and practice and demonstrates how RAM can inform nurse-led interventions to support TGNE patients’ adaptation, well-being, and experiences of safety.