Abstract: OBJECTIVE To investigate the incidence of nosocomial infection in patients of intensive care unit (ICU) and analyze the distribution of pathogens causing the infection so as to provide guidance for prevention of the nosocomial infection. METHODS The clinical data of patients who were hospitalized in the ICUs of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from 2016 to 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, and the incidence rates of nosocomial infection and catheter-related infection in the hospitalized patients and the species of isolated pathogens were statistically analyzed. RESULTS Of totally 2 151 hospitalized patients of ICU, 299 had nosocomial infection, with the infection rate 13.90%. The incidence rate of nosocomial infection was 15.36% in 2017, significantly higher than 12.17% in 2016 (P=0.033). The patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia were dominant among the patients with nosocomial infection, and the infection rate was 7.25%. The incidence rate of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection was 0.51%, and the incidence rate of urinary catheter-related urinary tract infection was 4.83%. A total of 469 strains of pathogens were isolated, 65.25% of which were multidrug-resistant organisms, and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii ranked the first place. 72.88% of the pathogens were isolated from sputum specimens. CONCLUSION The incidence of nosocomial infection is relatively high among the patients in general ICU, the ventilator-associated pneumonia is dominant, and multidrug-resistant strains are the predominant pathogens causing the infection. It is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of catheter-related infection and control of multi-drug resistance and reduce the incidence of nosocomial infection so as to keep the patients safe.