study skills for returning students

hello all, this is a question geared more towards those of you who have a degree in another profession and have gone back to school to become a nurse. of course, all feedback is welcome.

background:

i'm currently a therapist (bachelor and masters of social work) and have been in my field in case manager to therapist capacities progresively for the last 12 years. I found that during both of my degrees, I barely had to open a book and still maintained a/b grades. this was especially true in my masters program and the specialty years of my bachelors degree. I found that my professors were really good at teaching theory and concepts and 'why' I needed to know this information. I found that the social work field for me has been mostly intuitive, 'common sense' type of learning and work. I find that I learn concepts the best when I've been told why I need to know it, how and why it works, and then can integrate this knowledge into daily practice.

my question is this, since I've rarely had to study throughout my 6 years of higher education (and even less so during high school), how can I better prepare for the amount of studying i'm seeing from other students as necessary to be successful not only in school but as a competent practioner as well? doing what I do for a living, I don't think i'll have much trouble with the critical thinking portion of school, however, the regurgitation of information has always perplexed me (i.e. memorizing systems and functions like in anatomy and physiology, memorizing definitions, etc). also, maintain focus for studying has been difficult as well, which is why I don't think I worked harder at learning how to study.

any and all suggestions are welcome.