Is it abuse to leave an Alzheimer's patient in bed for 12 hrs? Bars are up & she can’t walk.

My Mom is in a wheelchair and has dementia. She lives in a private home with 4 residents. She is given sleep meds around 6pm and is in bed asleep by 7:00pm. She has never required much sleep. I am agreeable to the bars for her safety. She is not incontinent. She is awake by 4 or 5am and wants to use the bathroom. No one will tend to her until 7am. She doesn’t like the wet Depends so takes it off. Am I being to picky about her care? Thanks all.

Why is she in bed? After my mother's hip broke she was often in bed for more than 12 hours. She couldn't remember that she couldn't stand up and we all wished the NH could use some kind of gentle restraints, but they did the best they could within the law. She had a catheter and her bathroom needs were taken care of in bed. Food was brought to her. She was kept clean. She had visitors. But she was in bed for long hours at a time, until the pain in her hip went down some.

Being kept in bed and well cared for is not in itself abuse.

Can you explain the situation that makes you ask this question?

I don't know about your state, but in mine it's illegal to have any restraints at all without a medical order. That includes any bars on the bed.

But as the other poster said, there's not enough information here. Is the person bed bound?

More detail, please. Overnight is different from all day in bed followed by all night in bed, too. What exercise does the person get? Is the person violent so needs to be contained for the safety of other patients? Is this long term, or short term for a reason, and if so what is the reason? What other options could and should be tried? Find out more detail before you can work out whether this is abuse, even though it doesn’t sound good.