Rationale, aims, and objectives: The current study and previous research have called the six-component model of Lützen's 30-item Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MSQ) into question. For this reason, we re-examined the construct validity of this instrument. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, which was based on a convenience sample of Dutch nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), we tested the validity of MSQ items using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA, respectively). Results: The EFA revealed a two-component model, which was then tested as a target model with CFA and was found to have good model fit. Some items were correlated with two uncorrelated latent constructs, which we labelled as “paternalistic” and “deliberate” attitudes towards patients. Conclusions: As in previous studies, the analyses in the current study, which was conducted among PAs and NPs, did not reveal six dimensions for the 30 items. Two new latent dimensions of moral sensitivity were psychometrically tested and confirmed. These two components relate to studies investigating ethical behaviour, and they can be used to describe the moral climate in healthcare organizations. The scales are indicators of the extent to which health professionals behave in a deliberate (sensitive) or paternalistic (insensitive) manner towards the opinions of patients within the context of medical decision-making.
This article aims to explore the moral ideas and experiences that students at Dutch universities of applied sciences (UAS) have of being a professional with an ‘ethical compass.’Semi-structured interviews were held with 36 fourth-year Bachelor students divided over four institutions and three different programmes: Initial Teacher Educa- tion, Business Services and Information and Communication Technology. Findings show that students say they strive to be(come) moral professionals, but that they have difficulties recognising and articulating the moral aspects of their professional roles. They seem to lack a moral vocabulary and the moral knowledge to verbalise their aspirations and to provide arguments to explicate or legitimise their moral behaviour. While most students were critical of the support they received from their universities, they indicated that various other role models and (work) experiences did have a strong and positive influence on their moral development. In this article, we reflect on the findings in relation to international empirical research on students’ moral development and highlight the characteristics of UAS students.
In this article, the main question is whether and, if so, to what extent online journalism raises new moral issues and, if any, what kind of answers are preferable. Or do questions merely appear new, since they are really old ones in an electronic wrapping, old wine in new bottles? And how does journalism deal with the moral aspects of online journalism? The phenomenon of the Internet emerged in our society a few years ago. Since then, a large number of Dutch people have gone online, and the World Wide Web is now an integral part of our range of means of communication. Dutch journalism is online too, although certainly not in the lead. More and more journalists use the Internet as a source, especially for background information. Newspapers have their web sites, where the online version of the printed paper can be read. And that is it for the time being. There are no more far-reaching developments at present, certainly not on a large scale. Real online journalism is rather scarce in the Netherlands. The debate concerning the moral aspects of online journalism is mainly being conducted in the United States. First of all, by way of introduction, I will present an outline of online journalism. The first instance is the online version of the newspaper. Here, only to a certain degree new issues come up for discussion, since the reputation of reliability and accuracy of the papers, in spite of all criticism, also applies to their online versions. Besides, especially in the United States and increasingly in European countries as well, there is the so-called dotcom journalism, the e-zines, the online news sites without any relationship with printed newspapers. This may be the reason why these sites do not have a strong commitment to moral standards, at least as they have developed in the journalistic culture of the newspapers. After having outlined the moral issues arising in online journalism, the question will be addressed whether and, if so, to what extent it is meaningful and desirable to develop instruments of self-regulation for this new phenomenon of journalism.
