February 03, 2025

Ep. 489 Influencing Death: Teaching Hospice Care on TikTok with Penny Smith RN

58 minutes

Learn from “Hospice Nurse Penny” how she started working in hospice and ended up being a viral influencer about end-of-life issues on social media.

My guest this week is Penny Smith RN, known on social media as “Hospice Nurse Penny.” She discusses her journey to becoming a hospice nurse and her rise to fame on TikTok during the COVID-19 lockdown. Her new book Influencing Death, Reframing Dying for Better Living is an honest and vulnerable look at her own life story and what she has learned from working with dying patients. Learn more and connect with Penny at her website:

hospicenursepenny.com

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

How Penny’s life experiences helped her be a better hospice nurse

How she helps family members feel comfortable when their loved ones experience end-of-life visions and dreams

How Penny went viral on TikTok

What information TikTok users are searching for about death and dying

Why social media platforms can be a good place to address misconceptions about death

Links mentioned in this episode:

NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving

Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death

Get EOLU Podcast Merch here

Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here

Leave me a message by email: [email protected], Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio

Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here

Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, monthly What to Watch recommendations, Behind the Scenes Bonus content, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

Buy me a coffee

Donate on Paypal

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, to Simply Celebrate for donating on Paypal and thanks (again) to Robin Bissell for buying me 3 cups of coffee! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

...more

View all episodes

By Karen Wyatt MD

4.8

158158 ratings