You need to indicate the queue then publish. That version should works:
var amqp = require('amqp');
var amqp_hacks = require('./amqp-hacks');
var connection = amqp.createConnection({host: 'localhost'});
connection.on('ready', function(){
connection.queue('hello_node', {'durable': false}, function(q){
connection.publish('hello_node', 'Hello World!');
console.log(" [x] Sent 'Hello World!' to 'hello_node'");
amqp_hacks.safeEndConnection(connection);
});
});