A growing concern of health professionals is the prevalence of depression in elderly people, the most rapidly growing population group. Depression is a treatable condition with a favorable prognosis. Therefore, nurses need to become increasingly aware of the need to assess elderly people for depression since they are the ideal health professional to make the assessment because of their holistic approach to patients and opportunities to act as patient care coordinators. Explanations of the multiple etiologies and types of depression aid in differentiating depression from other conditions. Lately, the existence of barriers to making assessments of depression are explored.