Introduction:

People who should undergo surgical treatment present anxiety, which keeps them from reaching the operative period in optimal conditions. Spiritual care can be effective at times like this.

Objective:

To assess the effect of spiritual care on the level of situational anxiety in surgical patients.

Methods:

Quantitative pre-experimental research with pre- and post-test carried out in the Regional Hospital of Ayacucho, Peru, during March to May 2016. The population was made up of 123 surgical patients, of which 30 aged 24-57, with anxiety and willing to participate in the study were chosen. Anxiety was measured with the Zung test; spiritual needs, with a questionnaire validated by experts; and piloting, with Cronbach's alpha > 0.75. For the thematic and methodological axes of the intervention (spiritual care), a bibliography on the subject was reviewed, taking into account the care needs and levels of anxiety identified. The information was processed with absolute frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to test hypotheses. Pearson's chi-square (X2) was used for the relationship between need for spiritual care and evolution of anxiety level, with a probability of error of 5%.

Results:

The level of situational anxiety prior to the application of spiritual care was remarkable to severe in 86.66%; applied spiritual care was absent in 96.66%.

Conclusion:

The intervention with spiritual care applied was effective in reducing the level of situational anxiety in the surgical patients studied.