This paper is the second of two parts exploring a study that was undertaken to investigate the role of the tutor in facilitating problem-based learning (PBL). The first part focussed on the methodological underpinnings of the study. This paper aims to focus on the findings of the study and their implications for the facilitation of PBL. Six essential themes emerged from the findings that described the facilitation role. The tutors believed that their facilitation role was essentially structured around the decision of when to intervene and how to intervene in the PBL process. Modelling and non-verbal communication were seen as essential strategies for the facilitator. Underpinning these decisions was the need to trust in the philosophy of PBL. However, within many of the themes, there was a divergence of opinion as to how the role should actually be undertaken. Despite this, these findings have implications for the future role of PBL facilitators in Health Professional Education.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of membrane sweeping in promoting spontaneous labour and reducing a formal induction of labour for postmaturity. Based on articles published between 2005 and 2016, 12 electronic databases were searched. Relative risk (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as pooled statistics. A total of seven studies consisting of 2252 participants were selected for the review and meta-analysis. The results revealed that membrane sweeping is advantageous in promoting spontaneous labour (RR = 1.205, 95% CI: 1.133–1.282, p = <.001), and reducing the formal induction of labour for postmaturity (RR = 0.523, 95% CI: 0.409–0.669, p = <.001). The studies reported several varying outcomes for both maternal and foetal morbidities; meta-analyses were performed where possible on each of these and found there to be no statistically significant differences in outcome between the intervention and control groups.

This article explores the concept of internationally acceptable codes of ethics within the context of an Egyptian nurse’s PhD studies. Theoretical work, including gaining ethical approval for the project, took place in the UK, while the data collection phase of the study was done in Egypt. This highlighted areas where the Arab Muslim interpretation of some ethical principles, especially around the issue of gaining informed consent, differed from that currently accepted in British research ethics. The authors argue that it may not be possible, or even desirable, to standardize codes of ethics globally in areas such as academic research. Ethical principles develop from a unique mix of culture and religion. It may be more important to develop cultural competence that includes the ability to understand and respect the way in which ethical principles are interpreted by various societies.

The use of problem-based learning (PBL) in Health Professional curricula is becoming more wide spread. Although the way in which the tutor facilitates PBL can have a major impact on students’ learning (Andrews and Jones 1996), the literature provides little consistency as to how the tutor can effectively facilitate PBL ( Haith-Cooper 2000 ). It is therefore important to examine the facilitation role to promote effective learning through the use of PBL. This article is the first of two parts exploring a study that was undertaken to investigate tutors’ experiences of facilitating PBL. This part focuses on the methodology and the combining of innovative processes with traditional philosophical traditions to develop a systematic educational research methodology. The study was undertaken respecting the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology but utilised alternative data collection and analysis technique. Video conferencing and e-mail were used in conjunction with more traditional processes to access a worldwide sample. This paper explores some of the issues that arose when undertaking such a study. The second article then focuses on exploring the findings of the study and their implications for the facilitation of PBL.

There is a marked increase in the number of General Practitioner (GP) organisations across Europe providing out of hours (OOH) emergency primary care services whereby GPs and/or Nurse Practitioners (NPs), provide telephone consultations to patients (Giesen et al., 2007a, McKinstry et al., 2009, Derkx et al., 2009). This has been an important development to manage the rising demand for health care with increasingly scarce resources (Blank et al., 2012, Purc-Stephenson and Thrasher, 2010) and also reduces unnecessary attendance at accident and emergency departments or home visits by GPs (Bunn et al., 2005, Roberts et al., 2008)... In this study we describe the characteristics of telephone consultation calls made by pregnant women to an OOH service run by a GP co-operative and also to compare and contrast the differences between the way the calls were handled by GPs and Nurse Practitioners (NPs). The NPs were qualified and registered nurses experienced in primary care or emergency care settings and none were practicing.