Julia Kruizinga is pursuing a Master of Nursing thesis-based degree at McMaster University. She works as a hospice/palliative care nurse and her clinical work and passion for research drove her to pursue graduate studies.

She also currently works as a research assistant with the Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC) program. SPA-LTC aims to improve the quality of living and dying for residents and their family/friends in long term care. Her research interests involve early integration of palliative care, quality end-of-life outcomes, and improving access to palliative care. The focus of her thesis work will be on comparing quality indicator rates for individuals receiving palliative care in the community.