[The process of "sense-making" in nursing and in literature. Research and analysis of health care situations in several works of Russian authors of the 19th century].

In this article the authors examine an aspect that is seldom considered in the contemporary nursing research in Italy. Beside the well-known process of "decision-making" happens, in every relief situation, a process of "sense-making". This process, more or less shared by the various protagonists involved, is similar to what happens in artistic experience. Object of this research is to show the process of "sense-making" through a critical analysis of some famous works of russian literature of the late nineteenth century: Lev Nikolaevic Tolstoj, The death of Ivan Il'ic' and The stories of Sebastopol; Fedor Michajlovic Dostoevsky, The idiot; Michail Afanas'evic Bulgakov, Morphine. The similes between literature and nursing in the analysis of the process of "sense-making" will suggest, at last, some general reflections for our matter: moreover the hermeneutic comprehension of the other and the constructivist approach in the use of nursing theories.