April 1, 2025
Nurse Amy Kimbley Provides Comfort, Care and Connection Beyond Hospital Walls
By Gina Horan
Nurse Amy Kimbley Provides Comfort, Care and Connection Beyond Hospital Walls
Amy Kimbley
RN for Lake Centre Home Care
A little over a decade ago, home health care nurse Amy was a happily married mother of two, working her way through business school when life threw her family a devastating challenge.
“My husband, Michael, got really sick with respiratory issues,” she says. “We weren’t sure he would make it.”
Inspired by the kindness and dedication of the medical team that saved Michael, she switched her major, enrolled at the College of Central Florida and entered the nursing program at age 30.
“Thankfully, he recovered, and he’s doing so much better now,” she says. “I guess out of that tragedy came my career.”
Amy graduated at 32 and started as a CNA on the fifth floor of The Villages Hospital, now UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital. She became board-certified in 2016 and, by 2017, was fully immersed in home health, where she says her heart truly lies.
“Working at the hospital was a great experience, but I wanted something more personal,” Amy says. “When patients are at home, in a familiar environment, they’re completely different.”
Her role as an RN for Lake Centre Home Care out of Leesburg requires her to travel around Central Florida and involves evaluations, wound care, and case management.
She also acts as a bit of a diplomat during care.
“Family plays a huge role,” Amy says. “We aren’t there 24/7 like in a hospital, so they have to be involved. We’re not just teaching the patient, we’re teaching the family too.”
Amy embraces the challenge of providing support whether a patient is alone or surrounded by loved ones. Saying goodbye can be especially difficult.
“I lost a patient unexpectedly who seemed to be improving,” Amy says. “We said goodbye for the day, and then she didn’t make it through surgery. It was devastating.”
Beyond medical care, Amy often provides emotional support.
“We’re also therapists in a way. A lot of my patients don’t have anyone to talk to, and we build that trust,” she says. “I always stay my authentic self, and I think it comes through.”
Gina moved to central Florida in August of 2021 from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and spent 10 years as a fashion editor, columnist and food writer for The Knight Ridder Newspaper group. She was also a photo stylist and covered concerts, fashion shows and festivals all over Northern California. In 2000, she joined KSAN radio as a morning show co-host and produced the news and sports content there for 4 years. She also covered travel, events and the restaurant scene for KRON-Bay TV. She is a veteran bartender and has worked in hospitality on and off since high school. Her passions include travel, road trips, history books, baseball, tasting menus and most of all, landing in a new city with no map or guidebook. Gina lives in Oxford with her mom, cats and baby hamster.
