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Objective: to investigate the socially-relevant communication of the nursing system from the Luhmannian perspective., Method: the investigation process was based in grounded theory. The data was collected between February and September 2011, through interviews carried out with nurses and student nurses at a university in the South of Brazil., Results: The central phenomenon--recognizing nursing care as an all-embracing interactive and associative phenomenon--resulted from the inter-weaving of three categories: learning the context of care as a whole, organizing the environment for the other professionals, and visibilizing interactive and associative care., Conclusion: investing in a socially relevant communication for nursing entails developing a code for functional differentiation, which may strengthen health promotion and healthy living for individuals, families and communities.