"If quality of care is the top priority for nursing homes, then feeding residents should continue to be a skilled staffers' responsibility. Malnutrition and dehydration are chronic nursing home problems. The last thing nursing home residents need is less care by skilled nursing staff. And the experts say feeding the elderly isn't easy. The very elderly can have trouble swallowing, for example. It takes time and skill to feed them right. I'll continue to do everything I can to make sure that the recent federal windfall for nursing homes is used for direct care to nursing home residents."