I think it was time people stopped letting Nate get away with everything, that said, I don't think Peyton's words made a difference to him because he still didn't show up for his son and he was still drinking after. The wake up call was when Haley told him that he really would have nothing if he didn't get his act together. He was afraid of losing his family, thats was his wake up call. So while I don't believe P helped, she certainly didn't hurt his feelings and if she did oh well.