An older person can be entirely "compos mentis" whilst equally behaving in an almost irrational way.
It is not a nursing homes function to restrain a mentally well person against their will. People are entitled to make their own decisions - however bad we may think those decisions may be.
The huge difficulty is, however, how do the carers cope?
I'm at that age in my life where our family and many of my friends have had to make hard decisions about care for close relatives. We were (relatively?) lucky with a case of what can only be called "galloping dementia" - there simply was no choice or option.
In a second case, we had what the system describes as "the classic route into long term care". Fall, broken hip, long term hospital bed blocker, ultimate release into nursing home care. My aunt is now relatively happy with wonderful personal care but slipping into dementia and occasional distressed confusion. She is however safe and will never be found wandering the streets of Dublin looking for her childhood home.
One of my friend's mother was actually "expelled" from a nursing home for "bad behaviour" - the family took her home, they had no choice, and after a year of frequent falls, waits in casualty, she did eventually have a heart attack - largely
brought on I think by her wayward temper.
So what happens if the family feel it necessary but the elder is having none of it? One possibility is Ward of Court - the High Court orders the detention of the person for their own good. It is extreme but sometimes may be the only way.
Good luck - it is a hard road.
mf
"http://www.courts.ie/offices.nsf/0/19111E254B2EF547802573D2006CCF26?OpenDocument"