Between 1891 and 1893 she trained as a nurse at Adelaide Children's Hospital where she and Mabel Gill became life-long friends.
She took care of over 150 patients making 1612 visits to see them, taking advantage of free bus rides, a bicycle and a ferry crossing.
[4] The Australasian Trained Nurses' Association was founded in 1905 with Sweetapple as a member.
[4] In 1906 she and Maude Gill worked at a private hospital which they ran until 1913 when they went to Britain staying there throughout World War One employed by the Order of St John of Jerusalem and the Queen's Institute of District Nursing.
Back in Australia after the war, they ran a nursing home and then a boarding house together.