A very diverse population of students choose nursing as a profession in Israel. Although chemistry is basic for studying nursing, most of these students have not studied chemistry in school for longer than a single year--usually in grade 10. A chemistry curriculum for nursing schools was developed, implemented, and evaluated. This curriculum was designed to meet goals identified in a preliminary needs assessment including: (1) the need for a chemistry base for advanced nursing courses, such as biochemistry and pharmacology; (2) the need for content to be applied to students with different backgrounds in science; and (3) the need to increase the usual lack of interest of nursing students in studying chemistry. During the academic year of 1985, the "Chemistry for Nursing Schools" course was studied by 400 student nurses, in 10 nursing schools. The implementation of this course included discussions with teachers employing the new curriculum, the development of teaching aids, and an evaluation using pre- and post-achievement and attitude tests. Both teachers and student nurses indicated that the new curriculum fulfilled a need for a chemistry course for nursing schools, contributed significantly to the improvement of the image of chemistry, and diminished the anxiety often caused by the study of chemistry. (CW)