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

The center employs a physician and a nurse practitioner who monitor women’s hormone levels, offers $2,000-a-session facial laser rejuvenation treatments, and a gym stocked with Rogue barbells and eucalyptus-scented towels. —Anne Marie Chaker, Time, 20 Sep. 2025

To some extent, this already happens in law, with paralegals, and in medicine, with nurse practitioners. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2025

These clinics might employ a mixture of anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners and therapists, but quality and safety vary across clinics. —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025

An American Medical Association survey of 13,000 physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 2022 reflected rates of burnout exceeding 50% in several key specialties. —Patrick Aguilar, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025

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