Background: Critically ill patients are often in need of intrahospital transport (IHT) for procedures, surgical intervention, diagnostics or transport to an intensive care unit. IHT carries a high-risk for patient safety and previous research shows that IHT increases the risk for complications and can extend the length of care for already seriously ill patients. Specialist nurses’ have a great responsibility for the patient during IHT and must be well prepared to handle unforeseen events.

Aim: To describe specialist nurses' experiences of patient safety during intrahospital transport of intubated adult patients.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted by sending a questionnaire to anesthesia and intensive care nurses. A total of 78 questionnaire responses were analyzed using conventional content analysis with the help of Graneheim et al. (2017).

Results: The data analysis generated three categories: avoiding misunderstandings, creating good conditions and the importance of having experience in the profession, as well as four subcategories: role distribution, using checklists, anticipating risks and practical training. The results showed that specialist nurses’ experience stress during IHT as risky events often occur. Preparation, routines, communication and training proved to be factors that the specialist nurses believed could strengthen patient safety.

Conclusion: Identifying specialist nurses' knowledge gaps can help hospital departments to configure routines and education in IHT, which can lead to an increased patient safety.