Luppo Kuillman

Summarizing Discussion and Future Research Directions 137 6 hypothesized that moral disengagement would play a pivotal role, no moderation occurred. Where the vignettes ‘harmless’ and therefore not triggering the necessity of moral disengagement? Also, future research might look into the more non-deliberate explanatory variables like affect, intuition, personality, and sympathy (Rainone, Watts, Mulhearn, McIntosh, & Medeiros, 2020; Watts & Buckley, 2017). For this reason future research should include phenomenological approaches. The motives regarding (un)ethical behavior can possibly be better brought into the limelight by having interviews and focus groups with informants. Hereto both students, as also PA and NP professionals could be subject of study. Finally, given the fact that my studies are just a first step towards extensively studying ethical decision-making among Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners, it would be of great merit to set up replication studies to see if the results found in my studies can be validated in other professional professions and contexts. 6.5 Conclusions As summarized in paragraph 6.3 all the performed studies in the scope of this doctoral thesis have practical implications that might impact the training programs of PAs and NPs to some extent. At the very least, and in all modesty, it may be said that a start has been made to examine parts of the ethical decision-making process among PAs and NPs. Further evaluations and discussions about this important and not to be neglected topics in healthcare education would already be a very important merit of this Ph.D. research. In general, it may be concluded that I have addressed the research aims that formed the basis of this present doctoral research. I have been able to identify and validate all the instruments that were chosen and used as indicators of the constructs for ‘moral sensitivity,’ ‘moral reasoning,’ ‘moral motivation,’ ‘moral character and implementation,’ besides ‘moral disengagement’ and ‘perceived behavioral control targeted at preventing harm.’ Next to that, in this doctoral research, four vignettes have been developed to assess several types of (un)ethical choice, namely that of: ‘reporting reprehensible conduct’ and ‘yielding to pressure.’