A trial stay is easy to treat as a short break from the decision. It works better as the decision's test. For a few nights she is in a place with a set bed, a set route to the toilet, and staff on a fixed schedule, and you can check each of those against what she actually needs at 3am.
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.
Get the end date in writing before she moves
Ask for the start day, the end day, and what happens on the end day if she is not ready to go home. Ask who makes that call and what they need to see from you first. A trial with no written end is really an open-ended admission, so know which one you are signing. Ask whether the stay can be extended, how much notice the facility needs if you want to end it early, and whether her room is held if she goes home and needs to come back.
Walk her route on the unit where she will sleep
Ask for the bed-to-toilet walk on her actual unit, measured from the height of the bed she will use. Ask what sits between the bed and the bathroom door, whether the bathroom has a grab bar on the side she will use, and where the call button sits when she is lying down. Then ask the night staff to show you the route, not only the day manager. The lighting and the path staff use to answer a bell can be different at night than the daytime picture you were given.
Ask how the night actually runs
Ask how many staff are on the floor overnight, how they respond when a call light goes on, and whether one aide covers a whole hallway alone. Ask what they do when a resident gets up without calling, and how they learn about a fall. Ask whether they keep written night notes and whether you can read them the next morning. A facility that answers with specifics is showing you how it runs. A facility that answers with general reassurance has told you nothing you can check.
Bring the night log you already have
Bring the route, the times and the falls you wrote down at home. Use them as the test sheet. Each night of the trial, note whether she reached the toilet without help, how many times she got up, whether the call button was in reach, and whether the floor and lighting matched what she needs. Keep those notes in the same notebook you use for the doctor, then set them beside the same items for home.
Confirm the medicine list without taking it over
Ask which nurse reconciles her medication list on arrival, and who you can call with questions about it. Ask the nurse or her doctor, not the aide, how her medicines will be given during the stay. Bring the current list written out and check it against the bottles at home before you leave. Your job is to make sure the list is right and that the people who give the medicine have it.
Decide what she needs to go home
Before the trial ends, write down what must be true for her to go home safely. Include the bed height, the bathroom route, the light on the way, who is awake at night, and where her phone will be. Check each item against the home setup. If some items cannot be met yet, that is useful information too. Ask the facility for a discharge plan in writing, and ask whether they can connect you with local help after a fall in St. Louis.
Compare the two options on one sheet
Put the trial stay and any home arrangement side by side on the same questions: who is awake at night, how she reaches the toilet, who answers the bell, who writes things down, and who you call at 2am. Where one option cannot answer a question, that becomes your next question to ask. The decision is ready when both columns hold answers you have checked, not promises. For how this desk checks its facts, see How we write this desk.