Nickelates have emerged as a compelling platform for studying high-temperature superconductivity, drawing comparisons to cuprates. Infinite layer rare-earth (R) nickelates, RNiO₂, consist of an alternating stacking of NiO₂ layers and rare-earth spacing layers along the crystallographic z-axis. While their bulk structure has been extensively studied computationally, the samples that exhibit superconductivity in experiments are thin nickelate films. They are synthesized through a chemical reduction process that removes apical oxygen from perovskite RNiO3, often grown on substrates such as SrTiO₃ (001). We explore emerging surface effects by studying the formation of various surfaces within the framework of DFT. While perfect stoichiometry favors a NiO₂-terminated surface, the presence of excess apical oxygen in the surface region – possibly a remnant of the chemical reduction process – might favor an RO-terminated surface. The atomic structures of the studied surfaces strongly influence the local electronic structure in the surface region. These surface effects indicate the absence of an electron pocket around the Γ point – even for NdNiO₂ surfaces, in contrast to DFT and dynamical mean field theory bulk calculations.