Long process gently nursing husband (7)
I believe the answer is:
lengthy
'long' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'process gently nursing husband' is the wordplay.
'process' is an anagram indicator.
'nursing' indicates putting letters inside.
'husband' becomes 'h'.
'gently' anagrammed gives 'lengty'.
'lengty' placed around 'h' is 'LENGTHY'.
(Other definitions for lengthy that I've seen before include "Rather long" , "Protracted" , "Prolonged" , "Of great duration" , "Unusually long" .)