"International Association of Nurses" - is this legit?

[psysn]

Does anyone know what the "International Association of Nurses" is, or if it's legit? During school I got letters three years in a row telling me I was nominated for the "Who's Who in Educators" and suspect this is a bit along the same lines. Google isn't telling me much. I've never heard of their supposed publication "Worldwide Leaders in HealthCare."

Oh, I might also add that I have "been selected as a Top Nurse in" my small town Illinois, and have not yet secured employment after graduating last May. So their offer of this "prestigious tribute to [my] success" is very suspect, though I'd like to think they just anticipated my awesomeness

[opossum]

I dug deep in a google search and found International Association of Nursing. The fact that they are not easily found in a simple online search coupled with the page title ("International Association of Nursing" as opposed to "...Nurses" is a little shady. They also don't appear to be affiliated with any other professional organizations, which is a red flag for me.

There is the "International Council of Nurses" that I found on Nurse.org - Nursing Organizations and it looks like there are a bunch of international orgs broken down by specialty.

Now I want to know more about them...they could be a scam. Don't send them any money!

[avip123]

never heard of them!!!

[elkpark]

ICN is a legitimate nursing organization -- I suspect that the Int'l Association of Nursing may be hoping people will confuse them with the ICN.

[Emergency RN]

according to wiki:

mail fraud is an offense under united states federal law, which includes any scheme that attempts to unlawfully obtain money or valuables in which the postal system is used at any point in the commission of a criminal offense...

source: mail fraud - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and according to the us postal service:

mail fraud

u.s. postal inspectors investigate any crime in which the u.s. mail is used to further a scheme--whether it originated in the mail, by telephone, or on the internet. the use of the u.s. mail is what makes it mail fraud.

if evidence of a postal violation exists, postal inspectors may seek prosecutive or administrative action against the violator. however, if money is lost through a fraudulent scheme conducted via the mail, postal inspectors lack the authority to ensure you receive a refund and can't require that products, services, or advertisements--on the internet or elsewhere--be altered.

postal inspectors base investigations of mail fraud on the number, pattern, and substance of complaints received from the public. the postal inspection service will carefully review the information you provide. we may share the information with other agencies when there is a possible violation within their jurisdiction.

if you feel you've been victimized in a fraud scheme that involves the u.s. mail, submit a mail fraud complaint form to the u.s. postal inspection service.

source: united states postal inspection service

i would suggest that you contact and alert the usps; report them by using the complaint link above, and i sincerely thank you for letting other nurses know about this scam.

btw, good luck in your job hunt!

[elkpark]

I imagine that, like the "Who's who in Nursing" folks, this organization has carefully constructed their process so that it does not constitute actual fraud and they are not breaking any law.

[Carlyjo]

I received on of these letters as well.....also from a small town

[psysn]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was thinking about this, and all these "who's who" and such started after I signed up with a well known national student organization. I'll be letting my sustaining membership lapse when it expires this year. :)

[OldNurseEducator]

These "Who's Who..." are not new. They are trying to sell you a book that you will be published in for the "Who's Who of Whatever". Old scam. Don't send any money. Just my worthless 2 cents.

[opossum]

This is interesting - I'm trying to find more info on "Worldwide Leaders in HealthCare", who apparently is the umbrella organization for "Int'l Association of Nurses/Nursing". There is very little info about them, as they are only mentioned on ianursing.com and "Int'l Association of Respiratory Therapists" (weirdly enough...)

This "Worldwide" group also has something for physicians at International Association of HealthCare Professionals or Find A Top Doc - Find Top Doctors near you fast and easy - Search NOW!

Who are these groups?? It looks like licensed MDs and RNs have unknowingly bought into this, and unfortunately I would think it takes their credibility down a notch.

I can't find anything about scams involving any of these groups, and it looks like they have their own PR agencies creating their cheesy websites and blogs. There's no mention of them in any peer-reviewed journals, it seems. Speaking of which, I just read an article about Merck (the pharm co.) paying Elsevier a huge sum of money to create a fake peer-reviewed journal that contained data that presented their products in a positive light: Merck Makes Phony Peer-Review Journal | blog.bioethics.net

[OldNurseEducator]

Black eye for Elsevier!

[Little_Mouse]

I was wondering the same thing about this organization, but I saw no one had written anything about IAN previously on allnurses...or anywhere else for the that matter, but I just bought into it and I'm afraid I should have listened to my gut feeling....I guess I'll see what happens next...