The nurse is beginning her assessment on a 35-year-old woman.The patient appears to be of Asian descent.As part of the nurse's cultural assessment,what question is most appropriate for the nurse to ask pertaining to race prior to documenting the patient's race?

A) "You appear to be Asian. Am I correct?"
B) "Can you tell me a little about your oriental background?"
C) "What race do you identify with and what name do you call it?"
D) "Which Asian country are you from?

Although we commonly think of race as being based on biological characteristics,many,including the U.S.Census Bureau,believe that race is socially rather than biologically determined.For a culturally sensitive nurse,it is therefore most appropriate to ask the patient what race she identifies with and what name she prefers to use for it.We must avoid using our own assumptions and categories as the basis for determining race as this can lead to bias and even worse,a lack of providing proper patient centered focused care.