Vietnamese OK lanfa is an intensive care nurse the job's demanding yet she faces the additional challenge of working in German a language she first had to learn every day after work I'm completely exhausted after all the jobs and heavy work here but later on when I think about it I'm always very proud of myself because I've almost always handled these tough jobs relatively well Rel especially as here in Germany nobody wants to do this job I do it well OK Lan has been working at the University Medical Center in rosock for nearly 5 years she completed her nurse's training here and now also acts as Intercultural coach for newcomers I think it's also a difficult job that's why there are so few and let's be honest nobody here Germany wants to do it so why shouldn't they train people from abroad oklan has gone a long way in her pursuit of a better future Germany didn't recognize her Vietnamese Nursing degree so she had to train again here and she had to adjust the care she provides too I was quite shocked that I had to provide personal hygiene as in washing patients back home we nurses don't do that relatives do this for patients on non-critical Wards it was embarrassing for me to for example have to wash men's privates but now I don't feel that way anymore because I've been doing it for years Germany faces a shortage of around 25,000 healthare professionals as a result some beds at Roso University Medical Center remain empty although the hospital is relatively well staffed one reason is that they began looking to Vietnam for workers in 2018 and the Medical Center's approach also emphasiz is helping new staff members integrate smoothly we've also got to make sure that we don't overload our current staff with too many different nationalities in the end want to make sustainable gains in healthc Care staff while not losing the acceptance of the workforce that's a challenge for everyone involved each year up to 25 young people from Asia mostly women receive training here what's unique is that most stay on at the University Medical Center largely due to the Clinic's retraining program which includes arranging housing assisting with paperwork and offering German courses that cover typical IC nursing scenarios I find people from here speak really fast I always have to concentrate when I'm communicating with Germans if I get just a little bit distracted I can't understand anymore older patients are often difficult to understand or speaking to someone on the phone because you can't see who you're talking with so you can't use facial expressions or gestures to help you guess what's being said that's why we always work hard to practice that RW st's recruitment focus on Vietnam is no coincidence when the city still belonged to East Germany up to 1500 Vietnamese people lived here and were called fets AB their community's presence is visible last year this Buddhist pagota opened its doors just a few hundred meters from the sunflower building its sunflower mural serves as a reminder of one of rostock's darkest chapters in 1992 a mob attacked the residents for immigrant workers the race riots are considered the worst in post-war German history Vin van Lam has been in Rost since 1989 back then he lived just a few kilometers from the scene we were afraid at the beginning now the second generation or even the third generation is already in Germany in so yes we feel at home again in Germany or Ros but in Municipal elections the far right afd emerged as the strongest Party politics really don't interest me at all I feel good here but if the situation keeps getting more serious or stressful then I will have to think about it maybe I'll have to move to where people are more open to us of T lanfa says she rarely gets homesick she has made German friends through her work when you live abroad the first thing you need to do is learn the language I know a few people who've been living here for 20 years years and don't know a single word of German I think that's a real shame shadow in September tinok lanfa will have been in Germany for 5 years when she can apply for German citizenship her plan is to stay here and bring her boyfriend from Vietnam