Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick went on strike Thursday.

The nurses planned to strike after voting last week to reject a tentative contract agreement that was backed by their union. State and federal monitors assisted in producing the tentative deal after nurses rejected the hospital's initial offer in July. The tentative deal included a 3 percent wage hike each year of the three-year proposed contract, reduced health-care co-payments and more doctors in the healthcare network.

Approximately 1,300 nurses are planning to picket outside the hospital as long as the strike continues. The hospital has brought in replacement nurses to fill in the work shifts.

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