Abstract
Rehabilitation nursing research has largely been reported from a gender-neutral or female perspective. While the grounded theory, 'Finding a safe way', explains male nurse practice in this specialty, its original participants' sexual identity was not explored, leaving its relevance to gay and/or bisexual male nurses unknown. This study aimed to explore how identifying as a gay or bisexual man might influence nursing practice in rehabilitation. It was an ethics-approved case study using online semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of self-identified gay male nurses, recruited via the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses' Association. Thematic analysis was employed. The participants were over 50 years old with a combined 33 years of experience. The data confirmed the applicability of the theory to nurses who identify as gay. Both participants reported experiencing workplace homophobia and managed their sexual identity by either selectively disclosing (being open) or deflecting (being closeted) to ensure their safety and effective patient care. Managing sexual identity added significant complexity to their practice, driven by a culturally and socially heteronormative environment. Rehabilitation provided a unique context to explore the experiences of gay male nurses. The findings from this study begin to offer a theorised understanding about gay male nurse practice in rehabilitation.