She was given a strict education where a sense of duty and a sensible economy were regarded as important, and being an unmarried noblewoman, she stayed under the supervision of her family until the age of thirty.

Swedish publisher and women's rights activist Sophie Adlersparre made a deal with Florence Nightingale, that the person selected for the task should be educated by Nightingale in London, and then advertised for a suitable candidate in her publication Tidskrift för hemmet.

Rappe was considered to be a suitable candidate to establish a proper school for the education of professional nurses in Sweden.

Emmy Rappe returned to Sweden in 1867, and studied at Sahlgrenska sjukhuset hospital in Göteborg and at others clinics in Stockholm.

As a Baroness, she aroused controversy by engaging in such a profession, and she did, in fact, not accept any salary.