In 2026, ‘learn to code’ has become ‘learn to nurse’

For many years, manufacturing jobs were the safe, sure way to become financially stable — the engine of the post-war middle class as the American economy exploded in the Eisenhower years. Then, as globalization moved factory jobs away to other countries — for good or for bad — office jobs replaced them, with college degrees becoming the most reliable key to success.  

In the time since, years of the internet allowing corporations to move office jobs to other countries have undermined the reliability of that pathway. With the uncertainty of AI’s impact on the modern job market, everyone is scrambling to find the next sure money-maker.  

Healthcare is increasingly emerging as the path to prosperity.  

The economic impact of hospitals and related businesses is enormous. In 2023, according to the American Hospital Association, hospitals in the U.S. employed 6.6 million people directly and, with indirect employment rolled in, were supporting one in six U.S. jobs. Hospitals also purchased more than $1.3 trillion in goods and services that year.

And the need for health services will only increase in the near future, as baby boomers age.  

This is why proposed federal Medicaid cuts could be so destabilizing. They could cut the legs out from under the healthcare........

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