The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between vicarious traumatization and professional quality of life and purpose in life among healthcare providers of cancer patients in Botswana. Based on the constructivist self development theory, data were collected through a cross sectional survey in nine hospitals in Botswana among 83 health care providers of cancer patients. The three instruments used for data collection were; trauma and attachment belief scale (TABS), professional quality of life scale (ProQOL) and purpose in life test (PIL). Presence and levels of trauma were established by computing t-scores from responses on the TABS using the profile autoscore sheet and interpretation table from the test manual. Across the ten subscales, the minimum score recorded was 13 (other safety) followed by 24 (self intimacy) and 24 (self control) indicating minimal disruption in these areas. The maximum or highest t-scores recorded were 80 (other trust), 80 (self trust), 79 (other esteem), 74 (self control), 73 (self safety) and 72 (self intimacy), indicating that these were areas where there was an extremely high level of disruption in the sample Bivariate correlations between TABS and ProQOL were run and yielded r= −.11 (not significant) indicating that there is a weak negative relationship. Bivariate correlations were also run between TABS and PIL resulting in a r= −.28 (significant) which is a weak negative relationship.

Multinomial logistic regression was conducted among the three variables to determine if vicarious trauma predicted both professional quality of life and purpose in life among health care providers. While holding PIL constant, result showed that vicarious trauma did not predict professional quality of life. By the same token, vicarious trauma did not predict purpose in life when professional quality of life was held constant.