Background: Swedish people are living longer, leading to an increase in the number of elderly people in the population. Depression is common in elderly people due to changes in their bodies and minds, but also because they live alone. In order to make elderly people feel safe and secure, nurses should have a good relationship and communication with them.

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore nurses' behaviour, with a focus on communication with depressed elderly persons.

Method: To obtain relevant data for this literature study the authors selected qualitative articles with focus on nurses' experiences of communication with depressed elderly persons. The articles were analysed and reviewed.

Result: The authors concluded that the importance of a good relationship between nurses and patients was crucial for whether the patients dared to open up and talk about how they were feeling and to describe their feelings. Many nurses choose not to work with depressed patients because of lack of knowledge and time constraints.

Conclusions: It is clear that from the nurses' point of view there is a lack of knowledge, time, care and communication, which needs to be improved. Increased knowledge about depression leads to greater understanding, a better response and enhanced communication.