Half-century of nursing

Edna Culbreath hangs up her hat after 54 years at Monroe hospital

Edna Culbreath is retiring from nursing after 54 years at the Walton County hospital in numerous forms, including its most recent as Piedmont Walton. Photo: Stephen Milligan – The Tribune

When Edna Culbreath graduated from Carver High School back in 1967, she had no plans of going into the medical field.

“I thought I would go into education,” Culbreath said. “But I did that for a little while and I knew it wasn’t for me.”

So in 1970, Culbreath joined Athens Technical College’s local nursing program with an idea of giving that a try.

“Athens Tech had started a nursing program at the Walton County hospital,” Culbreath said. “It was convenient, because I could stay at home while I was doing the program.”

Little did she know that was the beginning of a lifelong journey.

Only now in 2025 is the Piedmont Walton nurse preparing to say goodbye to the nursing profession after 54 years in the field.

“It’s bittersweet,” Culbreath said of her retirement. “This has been like my second family.”

Culbreath has seen a lot of changes at the hospital, including both name and location at different times.

“Piedmont Walton is my fifth hospital,” Culbreath said. “There’s been a lot of changes there since 1971.”

She was there when the Walton hospital became Walton Regional­ Medical Center, again when it was renamed Clearview Regional Medical Center, traveled with Clearview across town to its new campus at the far end of Spring Street next to the Highway 78 exit and continued to see patients as a nurse when the hospital was bought by its newest and current owner, Piedmont Walton.

During that time, she wore a number of hats, serving as a nurse for patients but also working in coding and a number of other roles.

She saw the role of technology in the hospital grow and expand exponentially over the years.

“Everything was written by hand when I first started,” Culbreath said. “Now it’s all in the computers and I’m just trying to keep up with all the younger nurses, who can all type much faster than I can.”

Working with those younger nurses has been a rewarding experience, Culbreath said.

“I had a good relationship with all the younger nurses,” Culbreath said.

Culbreath remembers being a young nurse herself. Going through the training program with Athens Tech, which had her and the other student nurses doing rounds at the Walton hospital, was fun, she said. The trips south were not as fun.

“We had to do some training down in Milledgeville back when the state hospital was there,” Culbreath said. “I never enjoyed those rounds.”

After she was a full-fledged nurse, she worked hard at the Walton hospital, all while raising three children with her husband. She’s now a grandmother of four, and looks forward to spending time with them after retirement, but she hasn’t fully settled on what else she’ll do.

“I don’t know how to feel about retiring because I’ve never retired before,” Culbreath said. “I’ll kick back and relax for a bit, I guess, but I’ll have to figure out something else to do after a while, I can’t just sit still and do nothing.”

After all, she loved being at the hospital.

“I found happiness in nursing,” Culbreath said. “I love my patients. I try to treat them like I’d want my loved ones treated.

“And I just have to give God all the glory, honor and praise for my 54 years in nursing.”