Objective: The aim of this research is to determine the effect of patients' breathing exercises on their sleep and anxiety level.

Materials and Methods: This research was conducted in descriptive type. The subjects of the research consisted of all adult patients who underwent surgery in the University Hospital General Surgery Clinics, and the research sample was determined as 200 patients. The data was collected using a personal data form, The Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ), and The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) through a face-to-face interview.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.26±18.92. Also, 93.5% stated that they received breathing exercise training from the nurses, and 63% informed that the person who taught breathing exercise training both practiced the exercise and made the patients practice it. It was found that there was a significant difference between the overall score from RCSQ and the variable of teaching the breathing exercise. When taking into account the mean ranks of RCSQ (p=0.001) and state anxiety scale (p=0.001), the difference is in favor of the group taught preoperative breathing exercise.

Conclusions: It was found that the sleep quality of the patients who were taught breathing exercises increased and their state anxiety decreased. The effective exercise of breathing may be recommended to improve the effectiveness of treatment of patients.