I haven't read the other comments, so forgive me if this is redundant. Honestly, I don't think you should be "race blind," because your patients' race and culture will often change what the best way of dealing with them appropriately would be. Not from a medical standpoint, of course, but what you say and do may terrify someone of another culture, when to us, it's something perfectly normal. I'm trying to think of an example of this....Oh yeah. A nurse in an Arizona or New Mexico hospital thought it would be nice to bring a patient a vase of flowers, because the patient who got them given to her originally, they made her sneeze or something. Well, this patient (receiving the 2nd hand flowers) was from a certain Native tribe, and took this as a sign that she was going to die, and the flowers were for her funeral! She immediately became withdrawn and anxious, and in fact her health went down hill. Until things were explained when her relatives, who spoke pretty good English, explained the misunderstanding and percieved meaning. But anyway, I really do think you should pay attention to all the demographics, and use it as a genuine tool.