You may recall the ring-removal tip in our September issue ("Ideas That Work," page 12). Genevieve Holody, RN, a PACU nurse and educator at the Buffalo Surgery Center in Amherst, N.Y., shared the practical pearl along with some great photos. Maybe it was news to you, maybe it wasn't: Slide a rubber tourniquet and a little lubricant under a stubborn ring, and it slides right off. "It saves a lot of awkward cuts and your patients will love you for saving that very sentimental piece of jewelry," wrote Ms. Holody, 45, a nurse for 23 years.

Like cockroaches, the critics came crawling out of the woodwork soon after we published her 1-paragraph tip. Lest we forget the reputation that nursing has for eating its young, Ms. Holody was the victim of ugly cyberbullying from our readers. She says she received 14 e-mails to her work account dismissing her idea as neither new nor novel — "Tourniquets? No. We use shoe strings or dental floss." — and a couple of comments on our website that reek of one-upmanship. "New, it is not. Also it is definitely not absolutely foolproof," read one. "Windex works just as well," read another.

If this is the thanks you get for sharing, Ms. Holody, who considered changing her work e-mail address, doesn't plan to stick her neck out again anytime soon.

"I'm embarrassed to be in the same field as them," says Ms. Holody of her backbiters. "I felt badly for them and badly for myself, because I was just trying to help someone out. It's just such a sad display. Nursing should be a nurturing field. The fact that I have had so many critical opinions has been sad and astounding. It is horrible that this type of behavior could discourage a new nurse from sharing ideas or trying to publish for fear of negativity or retaliation."

Donna J. Lee, RN, CNOR, the surgical services education coordinator at Health First Palm Bay (Fla.) Hospital, came to Ms. Holody's defense on our website when she wrote, "It takes courage to share a practice, especially knowing the reputation nursing has for eating its young. This hostility is a huge cultural problem in health care.

"I am so tired of seeing people beat up in the healthcare system," she adds. "We're supposed to be nurturing and non-judgmental, and yet we tear each other apart and throw each other under the bus."

All this, as Ms. Lee says, over "an innocent little suggestion that could cause no harm at all." Ms. Holody, still hurting, would argue otherwise.