Luppo Kuillman

Re-assessing the validity of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire 47 2 PATER) can be eliminated. To this end, these three items should be rephrased to be more closely aligned with the target construct of paternalism. The most important contribution of this study is the introduction of the two new MSQ scales, both of which have good structural and construct validity. They therefore have the potential to serve as an impetus for structural equation modelling in relation to analyzing paths within the four-component model of moral behavior. Given the increase in the number of PAs and NPs throughout the world, such efforts will require validation in a number of countries. IMPLICATIONS Healthcare professionals are quite likely to perceive working with patients as a natural calling, prompted by an intrinsic motivation to do good. Such inherent sympathy and empathy, however, which is perceived as beneficent, may become blurred by blind spots with regard to the personal attitudes held by individual clinicians and, consequently, their behavior. With the exception of prejudice, the majority of complaints and disciplinary cases are based on either miscommunication or a feeling on the part of patients that they have been treated discourteously. With this in mind, both the MSQ-DELIB and MSQ- PATER could be used and applied as self-report tools for clinicians who would like to become more aware of their own underlying attitudes (e.g., moral deliberation and paternalism) when communicating with patients. The two scales could also function as a type of “thermometer” with which to assess the moral climate and the work- related moral stress experienced by health employees (Lützén, Blom, Ewalds-Kvist, & Winch, 2010).