The PEPS Protocol: Toward a Pedagogy of Self-Directed Wellness for Nurse Role Models:

Nurses play an important part in educating and promoting health to the public, yet they face the same behavioral challenges and health conditions as the general population. The challenge for nursing education is how to close the gap between how nurses treat their patients and how they treat themselves, and to identify effective pedagogical strategies to facilitate increased knowledge, confidence, and expertise for nurses to serve as role models. This article presents a framework of wellness instruction, called PEPS (personal values, education, practice, self-reflection), that integrates social cognitive theory with best practices in online and self-directed learning. The protocol is designed to enhance the credibility of nurses and their ability to exemplify healthy practices.