Nursing sister is a term used to describe a female registered nurse who has a supervisory role over other nurses. Other terms that can be used interchangeably with nursing sister are charge nurse, head nurse, or chief nurse. Charge nurse is used in healthcare settings to describe a senior nurse who has primary responsibility for a particular shift or ward. Head nurse is another synonym for nursing sister which is commonly used in the United States. In addition, chief nurse is used to describe the most senior nurse executive in a healthcare institution. These synonyms for nursing sister are commonly used to describe the role of a senior female registered nurse who oversees the work of other nurses.