Abstract: Objective: To examine the current management status of intra-hospital transport of mechanically ventilated patients in ICU, and to provide evidence for improving transport safety. Methods: Based on the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, a questionnaire was developed and used in a cross-sectional survey of 975 ICU nurses and 80 nursing managers from hospitals of different levels using convenience sampling method between February and March 2025. Results: The median implementation rate for intra-hospital transport was 43.45% (18.89%, 66.36%). In terms of departmental transportation organization management, the items with relatively low feedback included: establishing and applying an invasive mechanical ventilation in-hospital transportation risk scoring system (27.50%), establishing an invasive mechanical ventilation in-hospital transportation quality evaluation standard (46.25%), etc. Practices with lower compliance included: pausing enteral nutrition 30 minutes and checking gastric emptying (61.85%), checking cuff inflation and pressure before transport (74.26%), and monitoring respiratory depression during transport for patients on sedatives or muscle relaxants (73.64%). Conclusion: ICU nurses generally perform well in transporting mechanically ventilated patients. However, there is a need to enhance the awareness of systematic patient assessment and whole-process monitoring. The mismatch between high-load transport tasks and human resource allocation should be addressed by strengthening human resource allocation and capacity building. Meanwhile, organizational management and process optimization of transport should be implemented to promote safe and efficient execution of transport.

Key words: mechanical ventilation; ICU; intra-hospital transport; Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety; questionnaire survey