How do you say "nurse" in Spanish?

¿Cómo se dice "nurse" en español?

In my Spanish for Medical Professionals course, I often get asked how to say various job titles. For example, "How do you say Registered Nurse in Spanish?" As to not reinvent the wheel, I found this great article, Names of Medical Professionals and Specialties in Spanish. It lists all sorts of job titles found in the medical professions. Most of the job titles you can figure out just by looking at them. Often, if the job title ends in -o, the person is male. If the job title ends in -a, the person is female.

male nurse = enfermero
female nurse = enfermera

There are exceptions, such as el dentista and la dentista. Most of the time, however, you are safe to assume that you can put an -a at the end of the job title if you identify as female.

One job title that I want to point out is a Physician Assistant (PA). If you are able to read a bit in Spanish, make sure to check out this thread. The summary is that asociado médico might be the best term. The main problem is that a PA is used primarily in the U.S., so it is a difficult concept for Spanish-speakers from other countries to understand. 

As many of my online Spanish students are in nursing, the following vocabulary list will focus on common job titles in this field. Along with a PA, the issue with nursing in the United States is that there are many different kinds of nursing. They require a variety of backgrounds and education. In many Spanish-speaking countries, the term for nurse is simply enfermero. While there may be several distinctions in the United States, the various job titles often do not translate well into Spanish. This list includes translations of what I have seen used. You may have even heard other translations!

Spanish Words for Nurses

English	Spanish
nurse	enfermero/a
CNA - certified nursing assistant	ayudante de enfermero OR asistente certificado/a de enfermería
RN - registered nurse	enfermero/a registrado/a  OR enfermero/a titulado/a
LPN - licensed practical nurse	enfermero/a práctico/a con licencia  OR enfermero/a practicante certificada
LVN - licensed vocational nurse	enfermero/a vocacional con licencia
APRN - advanced practice registered nurse	enfermero/a registrado/a de práctica avanzada
NP - Nurse practitioner	enfermero/a de práctica avanzada  OR enfermero/a calificada para ejercer la medicina (See this article)
CNS - Clinical Nurse Specialist	enfermero/a especialista clínica
CRNA - Clinical Registered Nurse Anesthetist	enfermero/a anestesista registrada
CCRN - Critical Care Registered Nurse	enfermero/a registrado/a de cuidados críticos
nurse midwife	enfermero/a obstetra
midwife (general)	patero/a
nurse educator	enfermero/a educador/a
nurse manager	gerente de enfermería

If you are a nurse who works in a specific department, you may just want to use “de” and then the department. For example:

emergency room nurse	enfermero/a de urgencias
oncology nurse	enfermero/a de oncología
labor and delivery nurse	enfermero/a de parto y alumbramiento

I am sure that I am missing many titles here, but I encourage you to research your particular title at wordreference.com and linguee.com. (Tip: Scroll down to see either the comments from native speakers or how it is used in context.)

Did you find this helpful? Make sure to check out my other blog posts on learning Spanish, especially the vocabulary for COVID and the COVID Vaccine.