Aim: A descriptive survey was undertaken to ascertain nurses' awareness and level of practice of health promotion among women in Calabar.

Background: Women's health is affected by array of factors; nurses could have a major impact in increasing women's capacity to exercise increased control over their lives and determinants of health.



Method: One hundred and thirty six nurses drawn from the ante-natal clinics of primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities in Calabar participated in the study. A questionnaire with a content validity index of 0.91 was used for data collection. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was (r) 0.79. Ethical issues were addressed. Data were analyzed with statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 15.
Findings: Majority 110 (80.9%) of the participants were highly experienced, 96 (70.6%) were managers while only 52 (38.2%) had 1st degree and above. Health education was the most mentioned strategy of health promotion by participants 136 (100.0%) while specific protection was the least mentioned 3(2.2%). Only about half of the respondents 68 (50.0%) practiced health promotion appropriately. Nurses' rank and years of working experience were significantly associated with appropriate practice.

Conclusion: Nurses averagely practice health promotion. It was therefore recommended that Nurse Managers should provide learning opportunities to fill observe gaps in knowledge and motivate junior nurses to engage in women's health promotion at every opportunity.