Meaning & use
nursery nurse
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableBritish
a trained person whose job is to care for and teach children under about five in a nursery or preschool
Grammar: Countable: a nursery nurse, two nursery nurses.
Patterns
- work as a nursery nurse
- a qualified nursery nurse
My sister is a nursery nurse at a small nursery near the park.
The nursery nurse showed the parents how the children spend their day.
She trained as a nursery nurse before she became a primary school teacher.
Word forms
| plural | nursery nurses |
|---|
Common combinations
- work as a nursery nurse
- He works as a nursery nurse in a city center nursery.
- a qualified nursery nurse
- Every room must have at least one qualified nursery nurse.
- train as a nursery nurse
- She decided to train as a nursery nurse after volunteering at a playgroup.
- a nursery nurse course
- The college runs a two-year nursery nurse course.
Synonyms and how they differ
- childcare worker
- A wider term for anyone who looks after children; it does not always suggest formal training or a nursery setting.
- preschool teacher
- The usual American term, used for someone who teaches children before school age.
- nanny
- A nanny cares for children in the family's home, not in a nursery with a group of children.
Word family
Commonly confused: nursery nurse or nurse?
nursery nurse vs nurse
A nurse usually cares for sick people in a hospital, while a nursery nurse looks after young children.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'nursery nurse' correctly and naturally?
Choose one answer.
A nursery nurse cares for young children in a nursery or preschool, so option 2 fits. Option 1 is wrong because nursery nurses do not usually work with adults in hospitals, and option 4 confuses the job with a piece of furniture.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nursery nurse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.