The woman is hugged by companion, nurse (7)
I believe the answer is:
cherish
'nurse' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the woman is hugged by companion' is the wordplay.
'the woman' becomes 'her' (**).
'hugged by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (I've seen this in other clues).
'companion' becomes 'ch' (I've seen this in other clues).
'her'+'is'='heris'
'heris' going within 'ch' is 'CHERISH'.
(Other definitions for cherish that I've seen before include "Hold dear, value greatly" , "Love" , "Protect and care for lovingly" , "Hold dear -- he's rich (anag)" , "Hold dear, be fond of" .)