BackgroundThe use of natural health products has increased globally. It is important to properly regulate these products to guarantee good quality control, ensure consumers' safety, and integrate them into modern medicine. This study was conducted to identify the prevalence of NHP use among university employees in Nineveh Province, Iraq, along with the employees’ awareness, usage patterns, attitudes, and information needs. MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted between 2 October and 6 December 2022 in four main universities (Mosul, Nineveh, Al- Hamdaniya, and Tal-Afar) in Nineveh Province, Iraq. Data were collected face-to-face through an interviewer-administrated structured questionnaire from a multi-stage sampling of employees. Information was gathered using a data collection form and sent to a Microsoft Office Excel® (2010) spreadsheet. Statistical significance was determined using a chi-squared test, with a p-value of less than 0.01 representing a significant finding. ResultsOur results showed that (42.2% of the sample used herbal medications. However, we identified a statistically significant correlation between the female gender and herbal medicine use (p = 0.001). More than half of those surveyed (56%) felt that herbal medicines might be used to prevent and treat sickness, and 49% felt that they were safe to use. A total of 153 people (37.4%) said they felt comfortable combining herbal remedies with conventional treatments. Females were shown to have more knowledge regarding the origin of herbal medicines than males, and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.05). Further, there was a statistically significant difference between the percentage of those with no medical problems and those with chronic diseases who used herbal medicines (p = 0.001). Intriguingly, over half of all respondents (n = 204; 49.9%) initially relied on herbal remedies whenever they fell ill, and nearly as many (n = 172; 42.1%) did not even check with their doctors before using herbal remedies. ConclusionWhen writing prescriptions and delivering medications to patients, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists should take care to inform patients about the effectiveness and adverse effects of herbal medicine (HMs) using evidence-based information. To increase patients’ awareness of pharmaceutical use, patient counselling and education are necessary.