Health strike: 'This is unprecedented for us'
About 15,500 nurses in Northern Ireland have begun strike action in a dispute over pay and patient safety.
The Royal College of Nursing represents about 9,000 nurses who walked out at 08:00 GMT - the first time the union has taken strike action in its 103-year history.
About 6,500 other nurses, who are members of Unison, walked out earlier.
It follows weeks of industrial action by other healthcare workers over the same issues.