A carer is someone who looks after an old or ill person, usually at home. This is the ordinary British word; Americans more often say caregiver. Though actually the two are not perfect twins. In Britain, carer very often means a family member — a daughter, a husband — who does this day after day, sometimes with no pay. It can also mean a paid helper, but the “family at home” picture is the one people hear first. You would not usually call a hospital nurse a carer in this sense; the word points to the long, close looking-after that happens in someone’s life, not a short visit at work.