International Association of Health Care Providers America's Top Nurse Tried to make me buy an expensive membership New York

I am not sure how these people found me, but they kept calling me at work and leaving me messages. They sent a letter to me at work. They wanted me to call them to verify "information" I supposedly sent them. I didn't send them anything. I threw the letter away and never sent back whatever they wanted from me. The third time they called, I decided to call them because they won't leave me alone at work. I called them and asked to speak with the representative who keeps calling me.

The operator connected me with a different representative. She said that the other representative I asked for was on the other line but she can help me. She asked me a series of questions pertaining to my nursing career (how long have I been a nurse, where did I go to school, what kind of practice am I in, my career goals, etc.). Then she tells me, "congratulations, you will be recognized as America's Top Nurse in your city for 2021." I said, "great!"

Then the representative asked me if I wanted a Diamond membership for $700+ or Platinum for $500+. She said that the memberships come with a listing in their book of top nurses, a fancy 8x10 certificate, a 10% discount for a BSN-MSN program, among other things. She was basically trying to butter me up, throw in some nice things, and made it seem like I did not have a choice. I kept questioning her because I have a family and felt that the membership fee was too expensive. I asked if I can think about it, but she said, "no, otherwise we will be going back and forth, and we can't do that."

She wanted me to decide right then and there. I asked if there was a free/low cost option, she said yes, but it would be $199. I was not willing to spend my money on that.  She could sense I was uncomfortable and said, "I can tell you're uncomfortable. Don't you understand the benefits, we have so many happy members..." She said that they were reaching out because, "you filled out the application, don't you remember sending that in?"  I never sent them a thing and I was not going to give my credit card information to these people.

The conversation started to get weird at this point. When I wouldn't give in, she kept pushing, harassing me, trying to manipulate me, make it seem like I'm an idiot. The representative said, "when I said congratulations, it means you're going in our book." In the end, when I would not buy a membership, the representative told me that I would have the "free, basic listing." I didn't care at that point and ended the conversation.

I read some of the reports from others that have spoken to this "organization" and it's sad that some people had to pay so much money for this "honor" that may not be real. Nurses work so hard to take care of people in their time of need that we don't need this baloney. I hope my report will help someone and prevent them from making a huge mistake.