Building PHP based web application using node.js for real-time notifications

It has been some time since i last developed something completely new so forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question.

I am now building a PHP based web application and from my experience i have always used ajax polling for notifications and stuff like that. From what i have understood Node.js is the way to go these days but i can't figure out how to implement these two.

Using:

• MySQL for database
• Nginx for web server
• PHP as server-side programming

I want:

• Different kind of real-time notifications sent to signed in users
• Real-time chat between users

My goal here is to have PHP as the server-side language but some kind of system for the real-time notifications (probably using Node.js). Is this even possible, will it be optimal and how would i implement these two? Or is there any better way to achieve this when having PHP as the server-based language?

Thanks in advance for any examples/guides/information.

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