Early post-operative ambulation is an essential component of surgical care, which is rooted in nursing practice. However, literature had revealed that researches on determining the practice of early post-operative ambulation among nurses are low as the previous studies focused on the benefits rather than the practice and implementation of early post-operative ambulation which predisposes the nurses to not being able to decide on when to ambulate, how to ambulate and when surgical patients are to be referred to physical therapist. This project aimed at increasing the practice of early postoperative ambulation among nurses working in surgical units at federal medical centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. This study adopted a quasi-experimental research design with one group method using pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention training program. Total enumeration was used for the study. Data was obtained through pre-test and post-test questions. Data was collected in phases and training was used as an intervention. Data analysis was done with descriptive statistics for the research questions and Paired T-test for the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed mean score for pre-test as 10.08 while post-test was 16.17 with mean difference of 6.09. There were significant differences between pre and post intervention mean scores of participants’ practice of early postoperative ambulation. (knowledge gained= 6.09, t₍₇₈₎ = 3.957, p = .000) while testing on follow-up (Knowledge gained = 0.920, t₍₇₈₎ = 1.986, p = .067). It was recommended among others that for adherence to performance, the institution should develop the standard guidelines and protocols of ambulation for use by the nurses and other healthcare team.

Keywords: Early Postoperative Ambulation, Practice, Nurse-Led Intervention,

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