Role of A Nurse in Caring for the Elderly 
Suffering in Depression
Many health care professionals are involved with the elderly especially now due to increase of the elderly population. As one of the health care professionals who are taking care of the elderly, the nurse plays a significant role in caring for elderly patients especially the ones suffering from depression. There are many different ways a nurse can care for the depressed elderly, which will be summarized as four main ways: assessment, support, educate, and empower.
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ASSESSMENT
SUPPORT
EDUCATE
EMPOWER
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Suicide is a result of untreated depression among the elderly. Beers, Berkwits, Jones, Kaplan, & Porter (2005) state that 70% of the elderly who are at risk of committing suicide generally visit their primary care physician a few weeks before they complete the actual task of suicide. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that health care professionals should be aware and responsive to the signs and symptoms suicide displayed by depressed elderly visiting clinics, hospitals, or health care centers. The role of a nurse is to acknowledge the importantance and do a proper assessment with the elderly who may be depressed before the depression results to suicidal acts. One of the assessment tools that can be used is the Geriatric Depression Scale2, which is one of the popular tools used in screening for depression in the elderly.
Being open to provide support, is another important role of a nurse in caring for the elderly suffering in depression. Depressed elderly will feel alone and rejected and to have a nurse who will not only treat their illness but support them throughout the illness will be greatly appreciated by them. The nurse can individually give support to the depressed elderly but to implement strong and efficient nursing care plans for the elderly, the nurse must collaborate with the multidisciplinary team for additional support(Ludwick & Silva, 2003). Through collaboration with the team, the nurse will be able to provide support to elderly suffering in depression by facilitating a support group for depressed elderly for example or implement a "Bingo Night" in the nursing home, which will give the depressed elderly a chance to socialize and interact with each other.
Others see all elderly people as an increasing burden on society because they are unproductive, increasingly frail, and vulnerable with their decreasing ability to perform activities of daily living. It seems that the health care system has a great emphasis on cure of disease rather than care of the individual (Parsons, 1993). This is where the role of a nurse to educate can be applied. When caring for an elderly patient suffering in depression, it is important for the nurse to educate the elderly as an individual and not just the elderly's illness. Ludwick & Silva (2003) indicate that education must include the aspect of health promotion and illness prevention as well as looking at the elderly as a whole. Also, once the elderly is educated on what depression really is, the elderly population as a whole will be more aware of what the illness is and will be able to remove their ignorance on depression.
Once assessment, support, and education is put into action in the depressed elderly, the next role of a nurse is give room for empowerment to grow in the elderly. The elderly will realize what the nurse have done to help relieve his or her depression to the point that the elderly would be empowered to share his or her experiences with the elderly population or help others who may be suffering in depression. According to Parsons (1993), "old people should feel valued, be respected for their knowledge and experience, and be given opportunities to make choices." With that said and in the aspect of empowerment, nurses must realize that they have a role in encouraging the elderly to attain their optimal health, to regain any autonomy they have lost, and to convince them that despite of their age or condition, they can still make a difference in this world.
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