Race during report.

[emnicams]

Do you give the patient's race during report? I don't, because I don't really feel it's pertinent to my care. Now I can see if there was a cultural or language issue, but just skin color, I don't mention it and neither do most nurses on my floor... some do, it's just a personal thing I guess. But yesterday I transferred a patient to non-tele, and as I was giving the nurse report over the phone, I stated the pt's age and sex and started to move on and she rather snottily demanded the patient's race. I was just wondering if there is a good reason we need to have that info before taking a patient?

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

Honestly, I'd rather have more emphasis put on the name -- like how do they pronouce it? We've got people who's last name is Jordan -- half the family pronounce it Jordan, like the country or river, and the other half pronounce it "Jerdan"

And if you've got a woman with a man's name -- like George -- point out that the patient is FEMALE....

[crunchymomx3]

Why is mentioning race a bad thing. If your patient is a 45 year old Caucasian male you don't say the patient is 45 and leave it at that, do you? Why is mention race different from mentioning gender or age. It is part of who the person is. Sometimes it can factor into things. IMO the only reason it would be an issue is if someone decides to give poor care based on race. Otherwise it's just another factor of the persons identity.

[northshore08]

Interesting discussion. I stopped using racial terms routinely many years ago when I cared for a multiple mixed race child; kinda hard to place in a specific box. Since then, I do not mention race unless it has direct bearing on the care I am giving.

I usually am more careful to mention religion, cultural affiliations and ethnicity when it has direct bearing--sickle cell and other blood disorders, dietary needs, etc.

Sounds like that nurse was snippy because she was having to take report in the first place. I would have loved to see her face if the answer was "neither!"

[Jen01tx]

Yes, I suppose this is true. However, the problem with categorizing a patient as "white" or "black" is that it overlooks a person's true heritage. There have been studies published about the incidence of a specific type of dementia among people from the area of the Ukraine that my ancestors are from. That piece of information might be useful to my healthcare providers if I ever develop dementia--but it won't be noticed if I am simply categorized as "white." I'm not "white"--I have a variety of different ethnicities. It is the same with Ashkenazi Jews who are "white" but are more predisposed to Tay-Sachs disease than other ethnicities. There are numerous other examples of ethnic-specific diseases and conditions.

I used to work with a woman who was blond-haired and blue-eyed and very fair skinned. She had been adopted by a Latino family as a child and her primary language was Spanish. She identified herself culturally as a Hispanic. However, she didn't "look" like she fit into that culture. Unfortunately people lose their identity when they become categorized by their skin tone as a "race."

You made a great point!

[Jen01tx]

IMO the only reason it would be an issue is if someone decides to give poor care based on race. Otherwise it's just another factor of the persons identity.

Exactly. It sparked enough curiosity to cause her to start a thread. It might have been something about the way the nurse recieving the report made her request... her tone or whatever.