De verpleegkundige plakt een pleister op mijn vinger en doet verband om mijn duim.

Verpleegkundige is a de-word when it means nurse.

• de verpleegkundige = the nurse
• een verpleegkundige = a nurse

This noun can refer to a male or female nurse, so it is often used as a gender-neutral job title.

As an adjective, verpleegkundige can also mean nursing or medical, but in this sentence it is clearly a noun: the nurse.

Because the subject is de verpleegkundige, which is third person singular: he/she/the nurse.

The verb is plakken = to stick / to attach / to put on by sticking.

Present tense:

• ik plak
• jij plakt
• hij/zij/de verpleegkundige plakt
• wij/jullie/zij plakken

So:

• De verpleegkundige plakt ... = The nurse sticks/applies ...

In this sentence, een pleister means a bandage strip / adhesive bandage / Band-Aid.

For an English speaker:

• in British English, this is often a plaster
• in American English, this is often a Band-Aid or an adhesive bandage

So een pleister op mijn vinger plakken means to put a small sticky bandage on the finger.

They are both related to treating injuries, but they are not the same thing.

• een pleister = a small adhesive bandage
• verband = bandaging / a bandage / dressing material, often wrapped around something

In this sentence:

• the nurse puts a plaster/bandage strip on the finger
• and puts bandaging around the thumb

So verband is usually more like wrapping or dressing material, not a small sticky strip.

Because the two actions are understood differently.

• een pleister op mijn vinger plakken
  = to stick a plaster on my finger
  The bandage sits on the surface.

• verband om mijn duim doen
  = to put bandaging around my thumb
  The bandage wraps around it.

So:

• op = on
• om = around

This is a very natural Dutch distinction here.

Here verband is being used more like an uncountable material or a general treatment, so Dutch often leaves out the article.

• doet verband om mijn duim = puts bandaging around my thumb

You can also hear:

• doet een verband om mijn duim

That would emphasize a bandage / a dressing as a single object. But without een, the sentence sounds very natural and focuses more on the action of bandaging.

So both can be possible depending on context, but the version without an article is common.

Yes, doen often means to do, but it also has a broader everyday use in Dutch, including to put in some expressions.

Here:

• verband om mijn duim doen = to put bandaging around my thumb

This is an idiomatic use. Dutch often uses very general verbs like doen, gaan, zetten, leggen, depending on the type of action.

So in this sentence, doet is best understood as:

• puts / applies

not literally just does.

Yes. Depending on style and context, you might also hear things like:

• De verpleegkundige verbindt mijn duim.
  = The nurse bandages my thumb.

• De verpleegkundige wikkelt verband om mijn duim.
  = The nurse wraps bandage around my thumb.

But doet verband om mijn duim is a normal, straightforward way to say it.

Because both body parts belong to me:

• mijn vinger = my finger
• mijn duim = my thumb

Dutch often uses possessive words with body parts, just like English does in many situations.

So:

• op mijn vinger
• om mijn duim

is completely normal.

The sentence has one subject and two coordinated actions joined by en:

• De verpleegkundige plakt een pleister op mijn vinger
• en doet verband om mijn duim

Structure:

• Subject: de verpleegkundige
• Verb 1: plakt
• Object/complements: een pleister op mijn vinger
• and
• Verb 2: doet
• Object/complements: verband om mijn duim

Dutch does not need to repeat the subject here because it is the same person doing both actions.

So it is like:

• The nurse puts a plaster on my finger and puts bandaging around my thumb.

Yes.

• vinger = finger
• duim = thumb

Dutch treats duim as its own word, just as English does. A thumb is not normally called just a kind of vinger in everyday use.

So:

• mijn vinger = my finger
• mijn duim = my thumb

That distinction matters in this sentence.

Yes, that is very close to the literal meaning.

• plakken = to stick
• een pleister = a plaster / adhesive bandage
• op mijn vinger = on my finger

So literally:

• The nurse sticks a plaster on my finger

In more natural English, you might say:

• The nurse puts a plaster on my finger
• The nurse puts a Band-Aid on my finger
• The nurse applies a bandage to my finger

But the Dutch verb still strongly suggests the idea of something adhesive being attached.

Yes. It is in the simple present tense:

• plakt
• doet

In Dutch, the present tense can describe:

• something happening right now
• a general or habitual action
• a narrated action in a scene

So this sentence can naturally mean:

• The nurse is putting a plaster on my finger and bandaging my thumb

Even though Dutch uses the simple present, English will often prefer is putting or is bandaging in this kind of immediate situation.