Thomas J. Loveless, PhD, MSN, CRNP

Thomas Loveless

Clinical Associate Professor

Division of Advanced Nursing Practice

Newark Health Sciences

SSB 1122

(973) 972-8569

Specialty: Adult health, HIV, sexually transmitted infections, stigma in health care, health care engagement for vulnerable populations

Dr. Thomas J. Loveless joined Rutgers School of Nursing as an assistant clinical professor in August 2015.

Prior to his arrival at Rutgers, Dr. Loveless taught at the College of Nursing at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, for 10 years. He began as a clinical adjunct and worked his way into full-time academia, teaching adult health, advanced pharmacology, and pathology — later becoming the director of the Adult Health Nurse Practitioner program. He was appointed as the director of Graduate Education at Holy Family University in Philadelphia, PA, where he served for two years.

Dr. Loveless is a second-career nurse whose interest in HIV dates back to 1995. As a student nurse, he recognized the serious consequences of stigma within the medical and nursing community in the delivery of health care. His passion to understand the stigma among health care providers was sparked by the fear and mystery that surrounded unexplained illnesses and deaths in the gay community. He spent 10 years as an emergency/trauma nurse where HIV stigma was blatant, unforgiving, and problematic, setting his career path into motion.

To this day, his research interest includes all aspects of HIV care, understanding the effects of stigma, and the influence of stigma on health care engagement. Dr. Loveless joined Rutgers nursing because of the vast HIV research opportunities and passion of so many educators in HIV care at the school.

He has been an active member of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) since 1995, and on January 1, 2019, he concluded his two-year term as the president of the Pennsylvania/Greater Philadelphia Chapter of ANAC.

Dr. Loveless has been part of a private infectious disease practice as an adult nurse practitioner (NP) in Southampton, PA, since 2002. He has focused on HIV care and is the only NP with an independent practice in a group of 14 board-certified infectious disease medical doctors. He is certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as an adult NP and holds certification from the American Academy of HIV Medicine as an HIV specialist.

His PhD dissertation research investigated what is colloquially referred to as “Bug Chasing” — the intentional pursuit of HIV infection in a small, underground, and clandestine group of gay men. He is honored to develop his craft of qualitative research and narrative analysis, which was developed and nurtured under the watchful eye of his chair, Dr. Patricia Stevens. He has presented nationally on varied topics of HIV including stigma and bug chasing.

His other areas of research interest include narrative analysis, stigma, and understanding the lived experience of seeking medical care especially for the vulnerable population and maintaining consistent engagement in health care no matter the diagnosis. This is especially important with sensitive diagnosis.

Dr. Loveless earned his PhD in nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2013; his post-master’s certification in nursing curriculum from Thomas Jefferson University in 2006; his master’s in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University in 2002; his certification as an adult nurse practitioner in 2002; his bachelor’s in nursing from Thomas Jefferson University in 2002; his nursing diploma from the Helene Fuld School of Nursing in 1995; and his associate degree from Mercer County Community College in 1995.