About
Jason R. Thrift is an Assistant Professor at the Clemson University School of Nursing with 11 years of experience in nursing education. He earned his Bachelor’s (’01) and Master’s (’11) from the Clemson University School of Nursing. He earned his PhD in Nursing from Mercer University (’22) with a dissertation entitled Nursing Student Perceptions of Presence in a Virtual Learning Environment: A Qualitative Description Study. His current research interests include virtual reality simulation (VR-Sim) for patient treatment modalities and student nurse education.
He is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), making him well versed in innovations of simulation used in the education of student nurses. He is an affiliate member of the research team for the Clemson University Virtual Reality and Nature (VRN) Lab through Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research (CAMHR) through the Psychology Department. He is also an Informatics Nurse Board Certified (NI-BC) and works on informatics in healthcare such as the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare systems. He has been on a SPARK grant through the Institute of Engaged Aging that focused on using AI for precision medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Dementia. He was a Co-PI on a Prisma Health Seed Grant entitled Tandem VR: Synchronized Nature-Based Experiences in Virtual Reality for Hospice Patients and their Caregivers. This grant investigates the outcomes of having a dyad of a hospice patient their caregiver interacting together in a virtual nature environment. He is also on a HRSA Grant entitled SET-UP: SET-ting nurses up for rural and Underserved Populations. One aspect of this grant establishes the use of VR-Sim for student nurse education within the School of Nursing at Clemson.
He just recently became part of another awarded grant through HRSA entitled Appalachian Nurse: Increasing the Nursing Workforce for Acute and Long-term Care in Rural, Underserved Appalachian, SC. This grant will continue to develop VR-Sim for use in educating student nurses in caring for rural populations. Dr. Thrift has been a keynote speaker at the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) annual conference, and the South Carolina Nurses Association (SCNA) annual convention, helping nurses and student nurses understand how technology can leverage the care nurses provide through modalities such as AI, VR-Sim, and other information technologies.
Visit Dr. Thrift's Faculty Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
Dr. Thrift believes the research he is doing currently on virtual reality is transformational. Virtual Reality (VR) for a long time had not been used in the education of student nurses, and minimal use for patient interventions. The COVID-19 Pandemic created a paradigm shift in research and education however, opening the door for virtual platforms to take center stage. Virtual platforms offer a way to interact in an environment that is cost effective, mobile, and realistic to the user. Providing a patient a chance to see a place they have never seen before but are now limited by a serious illness is a means of fulfilling their dreams. Patients with debilitating medical conditions like cancer, heart abnormalities, or end-of-life concerns can find an outlet through virtual reality experiences that were not obtainable years ago. Student nurses want to experience realistic simulations that help them gain knowledge for the care of patients and transfer that knowledge readily. VR can provide an avenue to achieve this and help with shortages of clinical placements. Additionally, AI has become a part of the healthcare industry and continues to develop resources such as VR for effective use with student nurses, healthcare professionals, and patients alike. Together, these two aspects of patient care and student learning provide a means for VR and AI to plug the gap and allow for pleasant transitions or robust learning.
Health research keywords
Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality Simulation, Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Simulation, Informatics, Hospice and Palliative Care Services, Mental Health, Medical-Surgical Nursing, Work Force Development, Rural Health
News and related media
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Jason Thrift, “Innovations: The Road Ahead with Technology in Nursing.”
Clemson researcher develops first-of-its-kind shared virtual reality experience, Tandem VRTM
NIH National Library of Medicine Bibliography for Jason R. Thrift
Mitigating health disparities through future workforce development, education
