Table 1.

Overview of publications used in the review.

Author	Year	Study design	Setting	Title	Key messages	Main outcome
Van Buul Laura et al. (33)	2014	Qualitative Study	Tertiary care center, community hospitals, nursing homes and residential care facilities in Netherland	“Participatory action research in antimicrobial stewardship: a novel approach to improving antimicrobial prescribing in hospitals and long-term care facilities”	The study indicates, that the collaborative nature of the participatory action research results in greater engagement compared with top-down approaches	Improvement in antimicrobial prescription
Jeffs et al. (34)	2015	Qualitative study	Intensive care units of 3 teaching hospitals in Toronto and Ontario	“A qualitative analysis of implementation of antimicrobial stewardship at 3 academic hospitals: Understanding the key influences on success”	Successful implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program should include the following key themes: 1.Get the right people on board; 2.Build collegial relationships (formally and informally) with prescribers; 3.Establishing a track record	Successful implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program
Sinkowitz-Cochran (35)	2012	Descriptive survey based study	Medical, surgical and intensive care units of Veterans Affairs Medical Centres in the USA	“The associations between organizational culture and knowledge, attitudes, and practices in a multicentre Veterans Affairs quality improvement initiative to prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus”	Greater engagement of healthcare personnel is associated with having a good leadership structure and the feeling of being supported by leadership is positively associated with better MRSA prevention practices	Improvement in MRSA prevention practices leads to reduced infection rate
Pronovost et al. (36)	2016	Quantitative intervention study	Intensive care units in Michigan, USA	“Sustaining Reductions in central line-associated bloodstream infections in Michigan intensive care units: a 10-year analysis”	In order to implement and sustain an improvement in antimicrobial stewardship the active involvement of hospital leaders is important	Reduction of central line-associated bloodstream infections
Jain et al. (37)	2006	Quantitative intervention study	Single intensive care unit in Mississippi, USA	“Decline in ICU adverse events, nosocomial infections and cost through a quality improvement initiative focusing on teamwork and culture change”	Adverse events and nosocomial infections declined following the introduction of a changed system of care in the ICU	Reduction of nosocomial infections after intervention