The route only stays safe if someone is responsible for it on the days nobody is watching. Most families install the rail, move the lamp, and set the bed height, then go back to work and assume the house will hold. It usually does for a while. Then a rug shifts, a bulb burns out at the bathroom door, a laundry basket bumps a rail, and nobody notices because nobody was assigned to notice.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
What you need is one page, kept on the wall or in the drawer nearest the bed, that names each of the six stops from bed to toilet, says what to check at each one, and says who checks it. This is not a manual. It is the thing that lets your mother, you, a sibling, or a hired helper look at the same route and see the same things.
Walk it once, out loud
Start at the bed. Sit on the edge, stand up, and walk to the toilet at the speed she actually moves at night, not the speed you walk in daylight. Say each stop out loud as you pass it, using the names from your own floor plan so the card matches the house. At each stop, ask three questions. Is there anything under foot. Is there anything to hold that stays put. Can I see where I am going without guessing.
Write the card
Use one line for each stop, with four columns. The first column is the stop name. The second is what it should look like, for example 'floor clear, no cords, bedside light on from the switch at the bed.' The third is the check, for example 'walk it in the dark, flip the switch, confirm the bulb lights.' The fourth is the owner. Keep the wording plain enough that someone who has never seen the house can follow it with a flashlight.
Name one owner for each stop
Each stop needs one name, not a group. 'Everyone' is the same as nobody. The rail may be yours, the bulb may belong to a neighbor who has a key, and the rug may be a sibling's job on the days they visit. Assign each stop in writing, then tell that person directly. A name on paper that nobody has heard about does not change the route.
Where something about her own body changes, such as how she stands, how steady she feels, or whether she seems dizzy on the way, write that on the card as a question for the doctor. Do not treat it as a fix you make at home. The card records what you can see in the house. The physician handles what happens inside her.
When a stop changes
Something will change. A bulb goes out, a mat curls, a new chair lands in the path. When that happens, the owner fixes what the card says to fix. Anything that touches a grab point, a rail, or the bed height goes back to the person who installed it before anyone leans on it again. Then write a plain line in the last-checked column, in your own words, saying what changed and that the stop was walked again. The next person will see the route was touched and that it was tested.
Keep the card working
Re-walk the route whenever the house or her needs change. That includes new furniture, a new rug, a new bed, or a change in how much help she needs to get up. Give a copy to anyone who sleeps over, anyone who checks the house, and whoever answers the phone when she calls for help. If you are still putting the rest of the plan together, the reading path shows where this card fits among the other steps.