Award Recipient

Julia Kruizinga

Saint Elizabeth Home and Community Care Award

I first wanted to become a teacher before a nurse, though when I found myself in nursing, I realized that I got the best of both worlds. I soon learned that nurses embody many roles; they are communicators, educators, advocates, innovators, leaders, confidants, researchers and more. What drew me most to nursing and what I continue to love about it is the patient-nurse relationship found in caring for individuals and their families as we become a small part of their story. Whether it is being there where a baby first cries or watching someone take their last breath, getting to know those you care for, the life they have lived and experiencing the humanity interwoven in both the mundane and overwhelming aspects of a nurse’s work are what makes what I do rewarding. I find much privilege in getting to be invited into these moments of deep joy and sorrow, to provide comfort in the midst of suffering and to care for individuals and families in the most intimate of moments. I currently work as a registered nursing in hospice and palliative care, and I am excited to be able to continue my nursing education by pursuing a master’s thesis-based nursing degree. My research focuses of measuring and comparing quality indicator rates in palliative home care and I am thankful for the Canadian Nurses Foundation and the Saint Elizabeth Home and Community Care Award for helping to make this work possible.

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