Objective: To evaluate the quality perceived by hospitalized patients in surgery areas of two public and private institutions in Peru. Methods: Cross-sectional study, with hospitalized patients from the city of Huaraz (Peru) cared for by nurses (2018). Variables: Interpersonal, technical and environment. Descriptive and non parametric inferential statistics. Results: The nurses attended 118 patients. The perceived quality was in the low level (59 %) for the public hospital, and medium (61%) for the private one. In the analysis by dimensions. Dependence was found in the interpersonal component with the number of care per day and the degree of dependence of the patient, and in the environment component with the budget allocation for equipment and infrastructure. The technical component is governed by the competence and efficiency of the nurse. Conclusion: Patients in the private system perceive a higher quality of nursing care than those in the public system, which should mainly improve interpersonal relationships.