Abstract: This phenomenological study described the lived experience of patients within a surgical secondary care setting, and explored patients' perceptions of nurses' practice. The participants in the study were five adult patients who experienced a period of hospitalization within the surgical secondary care setting.This study was influenced by the work of Patricia Benner (1984) who entered the lived world of nurses' practice, through description of nurses' clinical exemplars. In this study, a qualitative research approach was used to enter the lived world of the patient within the surgical secondary setting.The research approach followed Max Van Manen's phenomenological hermeneutic method of 'Researching Lived Experience". This approach includes turning to a phenomenon of concern and interest to the researcher, investigating the experience as it is lived, reflecting on essential themes that emerge from the investigation, describing the phenomenon and bringing it to speech. The data that emerged from the participants stories of their experiences with the surgical secondary care setting, revealed four essential themes. These themes included 'feeling valued', 'human to human contact', 'two way communication', and 'feeling safe'. These themes provided insights into the participants' perceptions of nurses' practice.The participants' stories revealed a range of perceptions about nurses' practice, and the extent to which nurses in their practice valued the patient, had human to human contact, kept the patient informed and ensured patient safety. The themes revealed times when nurses' practice was perceived as dependent and powerless, in the face of, traditional views of womens' work, and the hierarchical and beurocratic constraints of the institution. At times it was also hidden from view, missed or misunderstood. Despite this, nurses' practice was seen as the central and pivotal point, from which the participants were able to make their recovery