PURPOSE: This study was to identify activities and related problems on health promotion of public health nurses, and to investigate basic data proposed to revise strategies of Health Promotion Nurse Specialists (HPNS). METHOD: The subjects of this study were 787 public health nurses sampled by clustering of the entire nation of Korea. Data were collected by focus group studies and cross-sectional survey during April to October of 1999. Results: 13.3% of public health nurses took responsibility for health promotion projects and 45.9% were involved in health promotion work with in home care or other routine activities. Also, the factors public health nurses perceived as barriers to implement activities for health promotion were time limitation, lack of ability for planning projects, insufficient time for specialties, inadequate understanding about health promotion project. CONCLUSION: According to the study, they need to have special education and further technical support. These results have important implications for the establishment for the role of Health Promotion Nurse Specialist. Also, in developing systems and curriculums for Health Promotion Nurse Specialist, the major factors described above need to be considered carefully.