It is 3am and the hall light is on, but she has stopped. She is not at the bathroom door. She is standing at the linen closet, or she has turned toward the front of the house with one hand out, looking for something she does not name. If you have seen this stop before, you already know the fall is not the only thing to worry about. The turn that came before it is the clue.
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What the wrong turn looks like
Watch for three patterns during the first week you spend on the route. She passes the bathroom door and keeps walking. She reaches for a wall where the switch used to be, or where no switch is. She goes back to bed before finishing the trip, or she stays in one spot far longer than the trip takes. Each of these is a route problem and a person problem at once, and you cannot tell which one from the hallway alone.
Write down the stop, the direction she turned, and whether she was asleep, groggy, or fully awake when it happened. Those three facts sort out most of what you will see.
What to do at 3am, in order
First, turn on the lights along the six stops, starting with the one she is standing at. A lit path ends most of the guessing for both of you. Second, keep your voice low and short. Say where she is, where the bathroom is, and what the next step is. Third, if she takes your arm or accepts your offer to walk with her, walk her to the bathroom and back to bed. Do not argue about where she thinks she is. Fourth, once she is seated or back in bed, check that the path to the bathroom is clear, the door is open, and the light is on for the next trip.
If she fell or bumped something hard, follow the first steps on the first ten minutes after a fall page before you do anything else.
What to write down before you sleep
Write the time, the stop, the direction she turned, what she said, and what the lights were doing. Add how long she stood there. Keep the page on the nightstand with a pen. A week of short, plain notes is more useful to her doctor than one vivid memory of a bad night.
What goes to the doctor, not to you
If the confusion is new, comes and goes, or is getting worse, that is a question for her doctor. Bring your notes. Nothing here is a medical opinion, and you do not need to work out a diagnosis at 3am. Your job on the route is to make the next step obvious, keep the lights on and the path clear, and keep an honest record for the person who can explain why it is happening.