Abstract: Surgeries are seen as stressors that trigger preoperative anxiety. Preparing the patients for surgery through preoperative teaching becomes crucial to allay anxiety level. In a cross sectional descriptive study conducted on eighty patients (age: 18–65 yr) who had undergone open abdominal surgery, 78.8% (n=63) stated that they experienced anxiety prior to surgery. Among these anxious respondents, 47.5% (n=38) experienced high state anxiety. Three of the top information that patients perceived as important to allay anxiety towards major surgery were: details of surgery, details of nursing care to surgery and information on anaesthesia. Nurses working in the surgical wards need to proactively address patients’ psychological concerns towards surgery and provide preoperative information based on patients’ needs to allay anxiety.