This text, aimed at nursing and other allied health majors, boasts a clear, comprehensible writing style and a pedagogical approach that is easy to apply and use. The early chapters of the text focus on fundamental chemical principles. Later chapters, built on the foundation of these basic principles, develop the concepts and applications central to the fields of organic chemistry and biochemistry.

The development of chemical topics always starts at the ground level. Complicated mathematics is minimized and used only when it helps clarify a topic. The text's pedagogy is supported by strong graphics, features that help students learn and retain material, and rich problem sets.