This book is great if your studying nursing at a Master's Degree level and the emphasis of your learning is on pathophysiology. Otherwise don't even bother with this text, it repeats itself with information every few paragraphs or refers you to other chapters when discussing a particular disease process. Unless you've had organic chemistry and some upper division biology, and bio-chemistry classes, this is not the text for the beginner. The tables are confusing, and once again the use of diagrams is overwhelming to the beginning nurse. I strongly reccomend that if your going to purchase this book, you buy it used, it's not worth the money new.