Struggle to deceive nurse (7)
I believe the answer is:
contend
'struggle' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'deceive nurse' is the wordplay.
'deceive' becomes 'con' (I've seen this before).
'nurse' becomes 'tend' (I've seen this before).
'con'+'tend'='CONTEND'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for contend that I've seen before include "Compete, vie" , "Struggle; assert" , "Debate - contest - claim" , "Struggle (with someone)" , "Engage in a struggle" .)