On my evo at the main screen I could hit the menu button and select all apps to view all of the apps I had and run them from there. Can I do that on my nexus, or do I have to make a shortcut for every app I use?
You should still have a main menu button on the stock launcher which leads to the app list screen.
Maybe this was accidentally removed from your main dock?
Long press on the home screen and select "shortcuts" then applications. This should make a shortcut on your home screen that you can then drag and drop to your launcher dock to access you application list with one click.