But testimony before key Senate committee underlines gulf between nurses and hospitals on the issue

The main sticking point in the months-long dispute was patient-nurse staffing ratios

Union leadership called it, in a statement, a historic agreement

Union membership still has to vote on the deal

Nearly 1,700 nurses walked off the job in August

Staffing ratios still major sticking point

RWJ nurses back in negotiations after failed mediation session last week

The union says replacement nurses are earning as much as four times what union nurses make

Growing trend of patients verbally or physically attacking nurses, other health care workers

RWJ officials allege 'disruptive picketing'

Union president 'frustrated' no round-the-clock negotiations; hospital spokesperson says union 'misrepresents the facts'

Interview: Todd Vachon, labor expert and professor at Rutgers University

Interview: Judy Danella, president of the United Steelworkers Local 4-200

The union's looking to mimic deals made by nurses at New York's Mt Sinai, Montefiore

Nurses are preparing to go on strike next week if an agreement can't be reached

The rejection puts almost 1,500 health care workers a step closer to the picket line

Ten-day notice period goes into effect, allowing for continued negotiations

Leslie Pooser Osei-Tutu wasn't a match to donate to her son Omari

Interview with Sally Wells, blood services business development liaison at RWJUH