Retained info.

When I spoke to one nurse about A&P and it's application to nursing school, she said to know your veins and arteries very well, which makes sense.

My mother in law has told me that throughout her nursing career, she's had to know the big things. For example, anything with the heart and circulation, organs and their major parts, etc. I believe her exact words were "No one is going to get mad at you if you don't know where the styloid process of the ulna is."

Honestly it is all important though, so I kept my anatomy books and flip through them on occasion to keep everything fresh in my head.

The quick answer is "all of it"! I have used tissues, bones, muscles, renal, hepatic, cardiac, nervous, etc...... in nursing school. I still have to remember all those stupid cranial nerves, everything in the brain, it's really all there. Then, you get to learn how to tie it all in together in nursing school and how one system's failure can affect the other systems and what, externally to look for.

Pretty much what others have said. I've talked to a few nursing students, and they'll tell you that(at least where we are) the integumentary system(burns mostly, and how the skin heals itself), blood vessels, and those sorts of big things are necessary. But the parts of the skull, skeleton, and such are not as important. lol

My nurse friend told me that it all comes together as one big picture in nursing school

I am currently in nursing school and I asked this exact question before I began as well. Every school is different so it is kind of hard to pinpoint a good answer. From my experience so far, I would recommend reviewing the basic concepts of heart, the major parts of the brain such as cranial nerves/what certain lobes contribute too, and a general idea of what the organs/systems do (ie: the kidneys filter, the liver detoxifies and metabolizes, etc). I wouldn't get too detailed, but rather have a general understanding of the basics. Speaking from my experience with my school, it has all been tied together. For example, in pharmacology when we learned about loop diuretics, the instructor did not start referring to medulla, renal papilla, interlobular artery, etc. As long as you understand that the kidneys filter, remove wastes and fluids, help control blood pressure, etc. the rest will all be tied in later. If you have some extra time to do a quick review of the body systems for an hour a day or something, then I think that would be beneficial. But overall I would not focus on relearning a ton of stuff. I have found that I actually know a lot more than I thought I did. I would try to relax and enjoy your life before you dive into the nursing journey.