Filipino nurses have long been recognized as among the world’s most skilled, compassionate, and resilient healthcare professionals. Across hospitals, clinics, and healthcare institutions around the globe, they continue to make meaningful contributions while carrying with them a reputation for excellence, adaptability, and genuine compassion.
As international opportunities continue to grow, so do the decisions that nurses must make. Which country best aligns with their professional goals? Which opportunities are legitimate? How can they confidently navigate licensing requirements, career pathways, and recruitment processes without relying solely on fragmented information or word of mouth?
These are the questions that inspired COLPUNO—a nurse-only, community-first digital platform created to help Filipino nurses make informed career decisions through transparency, trusted information, and professional empowerment.
Rather than positioning itself as another recruitment platform, COLPUNO seeks to become a trusted companion throughout a nurse’s entire professional journey—from nursing school to retirement.
The story behind COLPUNO did not begin with technology. It began with listening.
Thomas, the initiator of COLPUNO and one of its two founders (alongside Roger Breitenstein), explained that the idea emerged after years of working in international nurse recruitment.
“COLPUNO is an idea that came to us after many years of working with nurses as recruiters. We realized that it is equally important to act in the best interests of nurses. We wanted to give something back to the profession after being successful in recruitment. We understood the industry, but we also saw a major gap—there was no one truly representing the interests of nurses. In the end, nurses had to remain independent in making many important career decisions.”
Instead of asking how more nurses could be recruited internationally, Thomas and his partner in operations Roger Breitenstein, his partner and co-founder of COLPUNO, began asking themselves a different question:
How can nurses be better supported throughout their entire careers?
That question became the foundation upon which COLPUNO was built.
“Over the last two years, we listened to the nursing community,” Thomas shared. “We wanted to understand how we could support nurses throughout their careers—from being students to retirement. Every feature we developed came from listening to the community. We officially launched only a few months ago, and while thousands of nurses have already joined, we hope many more become part of the community because their participation gives the platform its strength.”
Unlike traditional job platforms, COLPUNO is designed around the idea that nurses should not simply search for jobs—they should gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their aspirations, and the opportunities available to them.
Beyond its long-term vision, the platform already offers a growing collection of practical tools that support nurses throughout their professional journey.
Members can create a comprehensive professional profile and digital CV while exploring assessments designed to better understand their strengths, personalities, and career aspirations. Through tools such as the Big Five Personality Assessment, Career Match, and StudyBooster, nurses can identify professional pathways that align with both their competencies and personal goals. They can also define their preferred specialties, work environments, countries, and long-term career ambitions within their individual profiles.
These preferences become the foundation for one of COLPUNO’s most distinctive features—JobPilot’s NurseFit.
Rather than functioning as a conventional job board, NurseFit acts as a personal career assistant. Twice each month, it analyzes available nursing opportunities across the Philippines alongside DMW-approved international positions offered by DMW-accredited recruitment agencies. It then matches opportunities according to each nurse’s qualifications, preferences, career goals, and long-term aspirations.
Instead of asking nurses to adapt themselves to available jobs, the platform aims to identify opportunities that genuinely fit the individual nurse.
Roger believes this level of transparency is essential.
“Freedom of choice is built on transparency. Usually, nurses do not have access to the entire market or all the opportunities that match their preferences. We want to provide one entry point where nurses can explore the full market, compare opportunities, and discover which options truly fit their goals.”
This philosophy extends well beyond employment. The platform’s tools are designed to encourage nurses to continuously develop throughout their careers by helping them understand not only where they can work, but also where they are most likely to thrive.
One feature currently in development is the Country Awareness Test, scheduled for release during COLPUNO’s next major platform update in August 2026.
The tool will allow nurses to enter their personal and professional preferences before identifying countries that best align with their career goals. It will also provide trusted information about licensing pathways, immigration requirements, healthcare systems, and practical considerations that often influence international career decisions.
As Thomas explained,
“We have developed the Country Awareness Test, where nurses can enter their preferences and the system identifies which countries best match them. It also provides reliable sources of information about each country, including immigration requirements and other important details that nurses need before making life-changing decisions.”
For Thomas, however, technology is only meaningful when it empowers people.
“Our vision is to empower nurses by giving them the freedom of choice. When nurses have access to reliable and independent information, they can make the right decisions. And when they have the opportunity to choose based on trustworthy information, they become happier and more confident in their careers.”
Perhaps the strongest endorsement of Filipino nurses comes from the founders themselves.
“There is no doubt that Filipino nurses are among the best in the world,” Thomas Gehrig remarked. “Their work is driven by passion, and there is tremendous international demand for their skills.”
That belief extends into COLPUNO’s broader vision.
Roger reflected,
“Every Filipino nurse is a hero. We want nurses to recognize their own value in the global healthcare market. Through learning, transparency, and access to reliable information, they can become even stronger professionals.”
But for Thomas and Roger, the vision reaches even further than supporting career decisions.
They believe the future of healthcare mobility is not simply about connecting nurses with jobs—it is about building a trusted career infrastructure around every nurse.
From education and lifelong learning to credential management, migration readiness, and international career opportunities, COLPUNO aims to provide nurses with the tools, guidance, and transparency needed to actively shape their own futures throughout every stage of their careers.
As healthcare continues to evolve globally, Filipino nurses deserve more than opportunities—they deserve trusted information, lifelong professional support, and a community that empowers them to make confident decisions.
COLPUNO hopes to become exactly that.
Today, the platform is in its closed beta phase, where Pioneer Membership is being offered on a limited basis. The platform, together with all of its current and future features for nurses, is entirely free of charge and will remain so.
Pioneer Members have the unique opportunity to experience COLPUNO in its early stages, provide valuable feedback, and help shape the future of a platform built by listening to nurses themselves. New features—including the Country Awareness Test—will be introduced progressively, with the next major platform release scheduled for August 2026.
For Filipino nurses who believe that informed choices create stronger careers, COLPUNO offers more than a place to search for opportunities—it offers the chance to become part of a growing community helping redefine how nurses navigate their professional futures.
