Nursing staff at L+M unit to be reduced

New London — Six registered nurses assigned to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital will be laid off from their jobs as of Sept. 18, but can apply for open positions in other departments, hospital spokesman Mike O'Farrell said Monday.

NICU nursing staff is being reduced due to fewer babies needing the specialized services of the unit, he said.

“We've seen the census drop for an extended period,” he said.

He said the unit now cares for an average of five to six babies daily.

“The level of care is not changing,” he said. “The NICU is not closing.”

The unit will continue to be staffed by two registered nurses per shift, he added.

The union that represents the registered nurses said hospital management worked with union representatives on reductions in nursing staff in the NICU.

“Management approached us to collaborate on possible solutions for a declining patient census in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” Lisa D'Abrosca, registered nurse and president of AFT Local 5049, said in an email message Tuesday. “We have since worked together on a plan that would assure both quality care for the newborns we treat as well as a safe environment for our member nurses.”

O'Farrell said the six nurses all qualify for equivalent open positions elsewhere in the hospital, “and they will be given preferential treatment” in hiring decisions for those jobs.