nurse practitioner

noun

: a registered nurse who is qualified through advanced training to assume some of the duties and responsibilities formerly assumed only by a physician

—abbreviation NP

Examples of nurse practitioner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

How to try somatic shaking Start small, advises Lisa George, a psychiatric and family nurse practitioner and founder of Talk Tribeca Psychiatry in New York. — Angela Haupt, Time, 10 Nov. 2026

The service in question allows individuals to virtually contact a licensed physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner with routine, nonemergency health issues, rather than going in-person to a doctor’s office or hospital. — Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 9 Nov. 2026

Another notable win was in Ohio, where oncology nurse practitioner Kristina Knickerbocker flipped a Republican House seat. — Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR, 4 Nov. 2026

The House has 17 physicians, four dentists, two pharmacists, a nurse practitioner, an optometrist and a rehabilitation therapist. — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1967, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nurse practitioner

• commissioner
• conditioner
• parishioner
• petitioner
• positioner
• missioner

Medical Definition

nurse practitioner

noun

: a registered nurse who through advanced training is qualified to assume some of the duties and responsibilities formerly assumed only by a physician

—abbreviation NP

called also nurse clinician