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Background: depression is a common mental illness and constitutes a major public health problem that affects individuals’ quality of life as well as their social relationships. The illness can be difficult to discover since symptoms are not always visible. The nurse has a crucial role in discovering depressive symptoms and meeting patients with depression. Several patients express deficiencies in meeting, and that the healthcare does not always meet patients’ needs and support. Aim: To create an overview of nurses' experiences of meeting patients with depression. Method: A general literature review according to Friberg including a total of twelve articles, of which four are quantitative, six qualitative and two mixed methods. Results: The results are presented in three overall themes: lack of knowledge in discovering depressive symptoms, nurses' experiences of patient encounters in depression and organizational conditions for being able to provide care. Nurses had difficulty discovering depressive symptoms due to a lack of knowledge, especially when symptoms resembled somatic conditions. Nurses with further education had more interest in meeting and supporting patients with depression. Conclusion: Nurses' competence, organizational conditions and emotional support are of great importance for the possibility of discovering depressive symptoms and providing a safe and professional meeting. Increased competence and education as well as improved working conditions can strengthen the quality of achieving safe and secure healthcare for patients suffering from depression.          Keywords: depression, experiences, general literature review, meeting, nurses.