Dr. Dustin Cox Receives Research Doctorate

Dr. Dustin Cox recently defended his dissertation and was granted his Ph.D. in Health Sciences (research doctorate). He previously earned his clinical doctorate (DPT).

Dr. Cox's dissertation focused on how psychological characteristics and different forms of feedback affected physical therapist abilities to learn and implement Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a third wave therapy that involves clients to engage in the world around investing in their values while dealing with the challenges that very human faces as we live in a complex world. The opioid epidemic and challenges with treating chronic pain has been a large ongoing health care challenge. Treating clients with chronic pain through interdisciplinary approach is important and having the team use the same psychological frame of reference could help increase consistency in the treatment. Therefore, it was necessary to investigate how different forms of feedback affected the psychological characteristics and fidelity of treatment of physical therapist learning about ACT.

Professor Stacy Bohn Receives Doctorate

Stacy Bohn, BSN chair, recently received her Doctorate of Education (EdD) from Grand Canyon University. Dr. Bohn has been with Cox College since 2017. Before leading the BSN department she was a professor at the Cabool/Houston campus.

Dr. Carol Conley Published in Nurse Education Today

Dr. Carol Conley, BSN professor, was recently published in Volume 121, February 2023 edition of Nurse Education Today. The article, Student nurses’ end-of-life and post-mortem care self-efficacy: A descriptive study, was written for her Doctorate of Education thesis in 2020.

"The study aims to investigate the reliability and validity of the 'End-of-Life and Postmortem Self-Efficacy Scale' and explore nursing students' self-efficacy associated with the nursing duties and responsibilities of caring for individuals during the active phase of dying and immediately after death."

So far, she has been contacted by a nursing instructor at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey for permission to use the scale in their own study.

OT Faculty Presentations

Dr. Amy Stark presented at an AOTA Live Webinar February 21st. Her presentation, "Mitigating Burnout in Healthcare," explored the symptoms of burnout and the related impact of burnout on professional life and patient care.

Dr. April Swanson presented for the Missouri Occupational Therapy Association on February 23rd via Zoom on accessible housing design. She is passionate about accessibility and has contributed to multiple types of built environments to enhance lives in Springfield and surrounding communities.